The Youth Olympics are a multi-sport event organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) every two years, alternating between Summer Youth Olympics and Winter Youth Olympics. Selection of the host city is done by postal voting by the members of the IOC four to five years prior to the tournament, in which the IOC members vote between candidate cities which have submitted bids. Bids for the first four games have been made by 15 cities in 14 countries.

The bid process consists of two rounds. First, cities and national Olympic committees (NOCs) may show their interest and submit a preliminary bid, becoming applicant cities. Through analysis of the questionnaires, the IOC gave a weighted-average score to each city based on the scores obtained in each of the questionnaire's eleven themes: political and social support, general infrastructure, sports venues, Olympic Village, environment, accommodation, transport, security, past experience, finance, and legacy. IOC's executive committee then selects a short-list of candidate cities. The candidate cities are investigated by the IOC Evaluation Committee, who make an evaluation report. These submit a more extensive bid book and are subject to additional evaluation, which is presented to the IOC members. Voting occurs as an exhaustive ballot by mail, which may occur through multiple rounds until a single city holds a majority of the votes. IOC members from a candidate NOC may not vote in any round while their country remains in the election. The first two selections were done by postal votes; since the selection for the 2014 Games, voting has been done at an IOC Session.^[1]

Summer Youth Olympic Games

The following is a list of bids for the Summer Youth Olympics, sorted by year. It consists of the year the games were held or scheduled to be held, the date the decision was made, the city and country which issued the bid, and the result of the bid parties. The bid listed first for each games is the one selected by the IOC.

Games	Year	Bid party		Result	Final selection process		Note
		City	NOCs		Date	IOC Session
I	2010	Singapore	Singapore	Awarded to host the I Summer Youth Olympic Games (53 votes)	21 February 2008	None, Postal vote
		Moscow	Russia	Eliminated in the first voting (44 votes)
		Athens	Greece	Not shortlisted to the final candidature stage
		Bangkok	Thailand	Not shortlisted to the final candidature stage
		Turin	Italy	Not shortlisted to the final candidature stage
		Debrecen	Hungary	Not shortlisted to the candidature stage
		Guatemala City	Guatemala	Not shortlisted to the candidature stage
		Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	Not shortlisted to the candidature stage
		Poznań	Poland	Not shortlisted to the candidature stage
II	2014	Nanjing	China	Awarded to host the II Summer Youth Olympic Games (47 votes)	10 February 2010	122nd in Vancouver, Canada
		Poznań	Poland	Eliminated in the first voting (42 votes)
		Guadalajara	Mexico	Withdrew during the candidature stage
III	2018	Buenos Aires	Argentina	Awarded to host the III Summer Youth Olympic Games (49 votes)	4 July 2013	Extraordinary in Lausanne, Switzerland
		Medellín	Colombia	Eliminated in the second voting (39 votes)
		Glasgow	Great Britain	Eliminated in the first voting (13 votes)
		Poznań	Poland	Withdrew during the candidature stage
		Rotterdam	Netherlands	Withdrew during the candidature stage
IV	2026 (postponed from 2022) [i]	Dakar	Senegal	Awarded to host the IV Summer Youth Olympic Games (unanimous vote)	8 October 2018	133rd in Buenos Aires, Argentina	[ii]
		Abuja	Nigeria	Not invited to the candidature stage
		Gaborone	Botswana	Not invited to the candidature stage
		Tunis	Tunisia	Not invited to the candidature stage
V	2030	Bangkok and Chonburi	Thailand	In dialogue phase

Winter Youth Olympic Games

The following is a list of bids for the Winter Youth Olympics, sorted by year. It consists of the year the games were held or scheduled to be held, the date the decision was made, the city and country which issued the bid, and the result of the bid parties. The bid listed first for each games is the one selected by the IOC.

Games	Year	Bid party		Result	Final selection process		Note
		City	NOCs		Date	IOC Session
I	2012	Innsbruck	Austria	Awarded to host the I Winter Youth Olympic Games (84 votes)	12 December 2008	None, Postal vote
		Kuopio	Finland	Eliminated in the first voting (15 votes)
		Harbin	China	Not shortlisted to the final candidature stage
		Lillehammer	Norway	Not shortlisted to the final candidature stage
II	2016	Lillehammer	Norway	Awarded to host the II Winter Youth Olympic Games (sole bid)	7 December 2011	None, Postal vote
III	2020	Lausanne	Switzerland	Awarded to host the III Winter Youth Olympic Games (71 votes)	31 July 2015	128th in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
		Brașov	Romania	Eliminated in the first voting (10 votes)
IV	2024	Gangwon	South Korea	Awarded to host the IV Winter Youth Olympic Games (79 votes)	10 January 2020	135th in Lausanne, Switzerland
V	2028	Lombardy and Trentino	Italy	In dialogue phase

Bidding cities

The following is a list of bids submitted by city. It lists the national Olympic committee, the city, and the games for which failed and successful bid were submitted.

City	Summer Youth Olympic Games	Winter Youth Olympic Games	Total
Buenos Aires	1 (2018)		1 (1)
Innsbruck		1 (2012)	1 (1)
Gaborone	1 (2026)		1 (0)
Harbin		1 (2012)	1 (0)
Nanjing	1 (2014)		1 (1)
Medellín	1 (2018)		1 (0)
Kuopio		1 (2012)	1 (0)
Glasgow	1 (2018)		1 (0)
Athens	1 (2010)		1 (0)
Guatemala City	1 (2010)		1 (0)
Debrecen	1 (2010)		1 (0)
Turin	1 (2010)		1 (0)
Kuala Lumpur	1 (2010)		1 (0)
Guadalajara	1 (2014)		1 (0)
Rotterdam	1 (2018)		1 (0)
Abuja	1 (2026)		1 (0)
Lillehammer		2 (2012, 2016)	2 (1)
Poznań	3 (2010, 2014, 2018)		3 (0)
Brașov		1 (2020)	1 (0)
Moscow	1 (2010)		1 (0)
Singapore	1 (2010)		1 (1)
Dakar	1 (2026)		1 (1)
Gangwon		1 (2024)	1 (1)
Lausanne		1 (2020)	1 (1)
Bangkok	1 (2010)		1 (0)
Tunis	1 (2026)		1 (0)