Visakhapatnam has emerged at the top of Andhra Pradesh’s district-level YouthPOWER rankings, according to the newly released Andhra Pradesh State Handbook of Youth Opportunity. The handbook evaluates all 26 districts across five areas — participation, opportunity, work, education, and readiness or skilling — using nearly 180 indicators drawn from 27 government databases. 

Visakhapatnam recorded a YouthPOWER score of 55, with the handbook highlighting several indicators related to employment and education. Around 60% of workers in the district hold regular salaried jobs, while only 15% of young women aged 15–21 were reported to be out of education, compared with 33% in the typical district used for comparison. 

 

The report also points to challenges facing Andhra Pradesh’s youth, including 16.2% youth unemployment, while 28.4% of young people were reported to be neither employed, studying nor undergoing training. The handbook identifies graduate employment and increasing women’s participation in the workforce as areas requiring greater attention.

The handbook was unveiled at GITAM Deemed to be University in Visakhapatnam by MP and GITAM president M. Sribharat. The launch also focused on improving coordination between education, skilling institutions and industry to better connect young people with employment opportunities.