Kectil Global Youth Index

Kectil Global Youth Index

Methodology & ethics

The GYI is built from the 2025 and 2026 Kectil Youth Speak survey data. This page documents exactly how every number you see on this site is produced — and the data protection rules behind them.

Review calculation notesBrowse reports library
Survey years
2025 · 2026
Sample size
4,958 responses
Home countries
113

Research methods

How the Kectil Global Youth Index is designed, validated, cited, and reviewed.

This page explains the methodology, publication, and boundaries for the Kectil Global Youth Index, and citation expectations for the Kectil Global Youth Index.

How we protect data

Every response is anonymized before analysis — identifying details are stripped, small samples are suppressed in public views and exports, and only aggregate results are published. Public downloads never include personally identifying information.

Read the privacy policySee the data use policy

Direct response calculations

How question results are calculated

Results are aggregate response distributions for one Youth Speak question at a time. They use the original 1-5 agreement scale, percentages exactly as respondents answered, and actual respondent counts for sample size.

Steps to obtain results
  1. 1

    Select one survey question from the question catalog.

  2. 2

    Filter responses by survey year, home country, Kectil region, gender, and age where selected.

  3. 3

    Include only valid response values 1 through 5 for the selected question.

  4. 4

    Count the respondents who chose each answer and convert the counts into percentages, with no weighting applied.

  5. 5

    Report Agree (4 or 5) as answers 4 and 5, neutral as answer 3, and disagree as answers 1 and 2, exactly as respondents answered.

  6. 6

    Flag rows below 10 respondents as small samples and leave their exact percentage values blank in exported files.

Inputs used

Selected direct question
Age filter
Gender filter
Home country filter
Survey year
How Kectil Global Youth Index scores were calculated

Kectil Global Youth Index scores (0-100%) pooled related survey questions into one figure shown on overview, region, country, and theme views. Each should be treated as a broad orientation summary rather than the answer to any single question — the Data Explorer shows direct question results separately.

  1. Started with Youth Speak responses that had a valid home country and survey year.
  2. Pooled the theme's related questions, reverse-coding positively phrased statements so a higher value always pointed the same way.
  3. Averaged the pooled 1-5 responses and rescaled the result onto a 0-100% index percentage.
  4. Scored all 14 survey themes — and the Jobs, Governance, Environment, and Health groups — with this same formula, without weighting adjustments.
  5. Used 2026 as the current index score and showed the change versus 2025 only where both years were available.
  6. Applied the small-sample rule: country rows below 10 respondents were directional only, and exported values were left blank.
Survey theme definitions

These theme labels organize the Kectil Youth Speak Index questions catalog and reports. Direct-response percentages stayed tied to the exact Youth Speak question selected by the reader.

PoliticsCorruptionWarEnvironmentDeveloped leadersMiningGlobal awarenessGenderHealthEducationFinancesConsumerismSocial mediaCultural identity

Who took the survey

2026 respondent demographics

Compiled from 2026 Kectil Youth Speak survey responses. Together these three breakdowns describe GYI respondents by age, gender, and region of residence.

Average age

23

years old

Gender

Female58%
Male41%
Other / prefer not to say1%

Region of residence

  • Sub-Saharan Africa56%
  • South America16%
  • South Asia7%
  • Middle East6%
  • Central Asia4%
  • Pacific Islands3%
  • All others8%

2026 slide preview

Research context from the slide decks.

An overview of the methodology, respondent demographics, and survey questions.

Slide 31

Insights deck methodology

A methodology slide summarizing how the insights deck was built.

Slide 32

Relevant survey questions

A reference slide listing the survey questions behind the insights.

Slide 66

Survey respondent demographics by age and gender

A final-deck demographics slide showing respondent age and gender context.

Slide 67

Survey respondents by home country region

A final-deck demographics slide showing respondent regional distribution.

Citation

How to cite the Index

Findings on this site are open and citable. Please credit the Index and carry the dataset context with any chart, download, or quoted metric.

Recommended citation

Kectil Global Youth Index, 2025-2026 dataset, accessed [Month Day, Year], https://globalyouthindex.com/methodology.

Always include

  • Kectil Global Youth Index attribution
  • Dataset version
  • Access date
  • Applied filters or geography
  • Methodology page URL
When you reuse the data
  • Describe findings as published aggregate insights, not raw survey records.
  • Keep dataset version and filter context with charts, downloads, and quoted metrics.
  • Do not imply Kectil endorsement of third-party conclusions or recommendations.
Read the full data use policy
Data partner
Survey data provided by CMI Research

All Youth Speak survey data behind the Global Youth Index — both the 2025 and 2026 surveys — was collected and provided by CMI Research. On this site, every percentage and Kectil Global Youth Index score is shown unweighted, exactly as respondents answered. Approved full-report PDFs may include additional weighted totals, using survey weights provided by CMI Research. Year-over-year comparisons follow CMI's statistical testing methodology: a two-proportion z-test at the 95% confidence level wherever both yearly bases reach at least 35 respondents.

Survey results powered by CMICMI