The number of young people in Dundee who are not in education, employment or training has fallen to its lowest level in more than a decade.
Official figures show a drop in so-called NEETs from 1,150 in 2003 to 730 last year a decline of 36%.
Willie Sawers, the city council’s depute convener of policy and resources, said: “I welcome the fact that this year’s figure is the lowest in more than 10 years.
“It is a tribute to the hard work of the city council and the Scottish Government and it endorses the Government’s strategy of having a cabinet secretary for youth employment.”
The data has been compiled through a mixture of statistics on the destinations of school leavers and the number of 18 and 19-year-olds receiving state benefits.
Scotland’s chief statistician said the result probably underestimated the actual number of NEETs by 20% to 25%, but was still a useful guide to the trends within local authorities.
The figures show the number of NEETs in Dundee fell by 150 between 2012 and last year.
The proportion of young people who had left school and not gone on to a positive destination fell from 10.6% to 8.8% over that period.
Compared to the position in 2003, the rate is down by a third and the gap between Dundee and the Scottish average is less. The city had only the equal 10th lowest rate out of 32 local authorities.
In 2003, Dundee’s proportion of NEETs was the sixth-worst in the country.
The city council has aimed to raise the attainment of school pupils, with some significant successes in the last few years.
This has included efforts to reduce the number of children who leave school without qualifications as they are most likely to end up with NEET status.
Mr Sawers said: “The increase in qualifications gained by our pupils has obviously had a positive effect, as has the reduction in exclusions.”
He also praised the improved links between schools and Dundee and Angus College for encouraging more pupils into further education.
Training and youth secretary Angela Constance said the drop in the number of NEETs was welcome news.
“This chimes with the most recent school leaver destination figures that showed the proportion of school leavers staying in a positive destination after leaving school reached 90% in March the highest level on record,” she said.
“However, supporting more young women and men towards work remains a key priority for the Scottish Government.”
She noted a commission for developing Scotland’s young workforce had made recommendations last month.