- 1. Navigate to Main facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toBy ethnicity section
- 3. Navigate toBy ethnicity (White and Other than White) section
- 4. Navigate toBy ethnicity over time section
- 5. Navigate toBy ethnicity and gender section
- 6. Navigate toBy ethnicity and age section
- 7. Navigate toBy ethnicity over time (16 to 24 year olds only) section
- 8. Navigate toBy ethnicity and area section
- 9. Navigate toBy ethnicity, disability and gender section
- 10. Navigate to Methodology section
- 11. Navigate to Data sources section
- 12. Navigate to Download the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- 22% of working age people (people aged 16 to 64) in England, Wales and Scotland were economically inactive in 2018, which means they were out of work and not looking for a job
- 20% of White people were economically inactive in 2018, compared with 30% of people from all other ethnic groups combined
- the highest economic inactivity rate was in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group, at 38%
- the lowest economic inactivity rate was in the Other White ethnic group, at 15%
- in every region, White people had a lower economic inactivity rate than the combined rate for all other ethnic groups
- in every ethnic group, women were more likely than men to be economically inactive
- the biggest gap between men and women was in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group, where 56% of women and 21% of men were economically inactive (a gap of 35 percentage points)
Things you need to know
In 2018, the total working age population (people aged 16 to 64 years) in England, Wales and Scotland was just over 40 million. Of those, just over 34 million people were White, and nearly 6 million people were from all other ethnic groups combined.
The data for this analysis comes from the Annual Population Survey (APS). The APS surveys a random sample of the population to make generalisations about the whole population.
The commentary for this data includes only reliable findings. Findings are reliable ('statistically significant’) when we can be confident they are reflective of the total population. This means we would get similar findings 19 times out of 20 if we carried out the same survey on different random samples of the population.
As with all surveys, the estimates from the APS are subject to a degree of uncertainty as they are based on a sample of the population. The degree of uncertainty is greater when the number of respondents is small, so it will be highest for ethnic minority groups.
Results taken from a low number of responses are more likely to change from year to year. What appear to be changes over time might not reflect real differences. Please use caution when interpreting short-term trends in the data, especially for small groups.
Values based on fewer than 30 responses have been withheld from results for 'All' groups. Values based on fewer than 100 responses have been withheld from results for specific ethnic groups. This is both:
- to protect respondents’ confidentiality
- because the numbers involved are too small to draw any reliable conclusions
Higher-level figures may differ from those published by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Office for National Statistics that use the Labour Force Survey (LFS).
The APS updated its ethnicity questions in 2011 so they were consistent with the censuses in England, Wales and Scotland. As a result, estimates from before and after 2011 may be inconsistent, and data for individual ethnic groups in 2011 is not available.
Download the data for both the data shown and additional estimates for:
- the 2 broad ethnic groups (White and Other than White) at the lower local authority level
- the Other than White ethnic group broken down by age, gender and over time
- data by ethnicity and age over time for all age groups
What the data measures
This data measures the rate of economic inactivity for different ethnic groups in England, Wales and Scotland. Data is also broken down by gender, age group, area and disability.
The rate of economic inactivity is the number of people who are economically inactive as a percentage of the total working age population (people aged 16 to 64 years).
A person of working age is counted as economically inactive if:
- they are out of work
- they have not been actively looking for work in the past 4 weeks
- they are not waiting to start a job
People who are caring for their family or retired are also counted as economically inactive.
A person in full-time education is counted as economically inactive unless they are either:
- in paid work, in which case they are counted as employed
- looking for, and available to start, work, in which case they are counted as unemployed
The figures come from the Annual Population Survey, which is a general household survey covering the UK. It uses data from the Labour Force Survey as well as other local data.
The ethnic categories used in this data
Data is shown for the following ethnic groups:
Asian:
- Indian
- Pakistani and Bangladeshi
- Asian Other (including Chinese)
Black
Mixed
White:
- White British
- White Other
Other
Data broken down by local authority is shown in the download files. For this data, the number of people surveyed was too small to draw any firm conclusions about specific ethnic categories, so the data is broken down into the following 2 categories:
- White – White ethnic groups (including White British and White ethnic minorities)
- Other than White – all other ethnic minorities
People whose ethnicity is not known are included in the figures for ‘All’.
2. By ethnicity
Ethnicity | % | Number of people economically inactive |
---|---|---|
All | 22 | 8,624,100 |
Asian | 30 | 960,700 |
Indian | 21 | 233,100 |
Pakistani, Bangladeshi | 38 | 469,900 |
Asian Other | 32 | 257,700 |
Black | 27 | 374,800 |
Mixed | 28 | 152,200 |
White | 20 | 6,849,300 |
White British | 21 | 6,383,500 |
White Other | 15 | 465,700 |
Other | 34 | 275,600 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Economic inactivity By ethnicity Summary
This data shows that:
- 22% of working age people (aged 16 to 64) in England, Scotland and Wales were economically inactive in 2018
- 38% of people from the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group were economically inactive, the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- 15% of people from the Other White ethnic group were economically inactive, the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups
3. By ethnicity (White and Other than White)
Ethnicity | % | Number of people economically inactive |
---|---|---|
All | 22 | 8,624,100 |
White | 20 | 6,849,300 |
Other than White | 30 | 1,763,200 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (White and Other than White)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (White and Other than White)’ (CSV)
Summary of Economic inactivity By ethnicity (White and Other than White) Summary
This data shows that:
- in 2018, the rate of economic inactivity was lower for the White ethnic group (20%) compared with all other ethnic groups combined (30%)
4. By ethnicity over time
Ethnicity | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
% | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
All | 24 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
Asian | 37 | 37 | 36 | 36 | 35 | 34 | 34 | not collected | 33 | 33 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 31 | 30 |
Indian | 27 | 26 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 24 | not collected | 23 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 |
Pakistani, Bangladeshi | 49 | 49 | 48 | 48 | 46 | 44 | 44 | not collected | 42 | 41 | 40 | 40 | 39 | 39 | 38 |
Asian Other | 36 | 36 | 34 | 33 | 31 | 32 | 36 | not collected | 34 | 36 | 33 | 32 | 34 | 32 | 32 |
Black | 31 | 30 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 28 | not collected | 27 | 26 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
Mixed | 29 | 30 | 27 | 28 | 31 | 30 | 28 | not collected | 29 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 28 |
White | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 | not collected | 22 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 20 |
White British | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 | not collected | 22 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
White Other | 25 | 23 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | not collected | 20 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 15 |
Other | 38 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 35 | 36 | 35 | not collected | 35 | 35 | 37 | 35 | 34 | 33 | 34 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Economic inactivity By ethnicity over time Summary
This data shows that:
- in most ethnic groups, the economic inactivity rate was lower in 2018 than in 2004
- although it appears that the rate was lower in the Asian Other, Mixed, and Other ethnic groups, the decrease was too small to be reliable
- the biggest decreases were in the Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group, where the economic inactivity rate went down from 49% to 38% (down by 11 percentage points) and the Other White ethnic group, where the rate went down from 25% to 15% (down by 10 percentage points)
- the Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group had the highest rate of economic inactivity throughout the period covered
5. By ethnicity and gender
All | Men | Women | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ethnicity | All % | All Number of people economically inactive | Men % | Men Number of people economically inactive | Women % | Women Number of people economically inactive |
All | 22 | 8,624,100 | 17 | 3,324,600 | 26 | 5,299,600 |
Asian | 30 | 960,700 | 19 | 302,300 | 41 | 658,400 |
Indian | 21 | 233,100 | 14 | 78,600 | 28 | 154,500 |
Pakistani, Bangladeshi | 38 | 469,900 | 21 | 133,800 | 56 | 336,000 |
Asian Other | 32 | 257,700 | 25 | 89,900 | 38 | 167,800 |
Black | 27 | 374,800 | 21 | 139,500 | 31 | 235,300 |
Mixed | 28 | 152,200 | 23 | 60,000 | 32 | 92,300 |
White | 20 | 6,849,300 | 16 | 2,722,000 | 24 | 4,127,300 |
White British | 21 | 6,383,500 | 17 | 2,593,600 | 24 | 3,789,900 |
White Other | 15 | 465,700 | 9 | 128,400 | 21 | 337,300 |
Other | 34 | 275,600 | 24 | 97,200 | 44 | 178,400 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and gender’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and gender’ (CSV)
Summary of Economic inactivity By ethnicity and gender Summary
This data shows that:
- 26% of women and 17% of men were economically inactive in 2018
- in every ethnic group, women were more likely to be economically inactive than men
- the gap between men and women was biggest in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group, where 56% of women and 21% of men were economically inactive (a 35 percentage point difference)
- the highest economic inactivity rate among women was in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group, at 56%
- the highest economic inactivity rate among men was in the Other Asian ethnic group, at 25%
- for both men and women, the lowest economic inactivity rate was in the Other White ethnic group (9% for men, 21% for women)
6. By ethnicity and age
All | 16-24 | 25-49 | 50-64 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ethnicity | All % | All Number of people economically inactive | 16-24 % | 16-24 Number of people economically inactive | 25-49 % | 25-49 Number of people economically inactive | 50-64 % | 50-64 Number of people economically inactive |
All | 22 | 8,624,100 | 39 | 2,647,500 | 13 | 2,780,200 | 26 | 3,196,400 |
Asian | 30 | 960,700 | 56 | 352,600 | 22 | 440,100 | 32 | 168,000 |
Indian | 21 | 233,100 | 52 | 81,600 | 13 | 95,500 | 25 | 56,100 |
Pakistani, Bangladeshi | 38 | 469,900 | 53 | 164,900 | 30 | 237,500 | 44 | 67,400 |
Asian Other | 32 | 257,700 | 65 | 106,100 | 22 | 107,100 | 29 | 44,600 |
Black | 27 | 374,800 | 57 | 165,000 | 18 | 137,900 | 21 | 71,900 |
Mixed | 28 | 152,200 | 46 | 85,300 | 16 | 46,900 | 28 | 20,000 |
White | 20 | 6,849,300 | 35 | 1,945,900 | 12 | 2,015,400 | 26 | 2,888,000 |
White British | 21 | 6,383,500 | 35 | 1,798,000 | 12 | 1,791,800 | 26 | 2,793,700 |
White Other | 15 | 465,700 | 40 | 147,900 | 10 | 223,600 | 19 | 94,300 |
Other | 34 | 275,600 | 64 | 95,100 | 26 | 134,400 | 32 | 46,000 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and age’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and age’ (CSV)
Summary of Economic inactivity By ethnicity and age Summary
This data shows that:
- 39% of 16 to 24 year olds were economically inactive in total, compared with 13% of 25 to 49 year olds, and 26% of 50 to 64 year olds
- in every ethnic group, 16 to 24 year olds had the highest economic inactivity rate out of the three age groups
- among 16 to 24 year olds, the highest economic inactivity rate was in the Other Asian ethnic group (65%), and the lowest was in the White British group (35%)
- among 25 to 49 year olds, the highest economic inactivity rate was in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group (30%), and the lowest was in the Other White group (10%)
- among 50 to 64 year olds, the highest economic inactivity rate was in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group (44%), and the lowest was in the Other White group (19%)
7. By ethnicity over time (16 to 24 year olds only)
Ethnicity | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
% | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
All | 32 | 32 | 33 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 38 | 37 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 37 | 38 | 38 | 39 |
Asian | 53 | 54 | 51 | 54 | 52 | 55 | 58 | not collected | 56 | 57 | 60 | 57 | 60 | 58 | 56 |
Indian | 46 | 49 | 44 | 45 | 48 | 51 | 51 | not collected | 46 | 54 | 58 | 54 | 59 | 49 | 52 |
Pakistani, Bangladeshi | 56 | 55 | 52 | 56 | 52 | 54 | 56 | not collected | 56 | 52 | 55 | 53 | 56 | 58 | 53 |
Asian Other | 57 | 60 | 60 | 62 | 59 | 65 | 70 | not collected | 68 | 69 | 69 | 67 | 68 | 65 | 65 |
Black | 47 | 50 | 48 | 49 | 53 | 52 | 55 | not collected | 53 | 53 | 54 | 56 | 50 | 56 | 57 |
Mixed | 39 | 41 | 38 | 39 | 45 | 47 | 45 | not collected | 42 | 38 | 43 | 46 | 48 | 45 | 46 |
White | 29 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 32 | 34 | not collected | 34 | 35 | 35 | 34 | 35 | 35 | 35 |
White British | 29 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 32 | 34 | not collected | 34 | 34 | 35 | 34 | 35 | 34 | 35 |
White Other | 36 | 30 | 27 | 31 | 30 | 35 | 37 | not collected | 44 | 42 | 41 | 36 | 36 | 40 | 40 |
Other | 55 | 53 | 53 | 55 | 50 | 60 | 61 | not collected | 58 | 63 | 65 | 59 | 61 | 63 | 64 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time (16 to 24 year olds only)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time (16 to 24 year olds only)’ (CSV)
Summary of Economic inactivity By ethnicity over time (16 to 24 year olds only) Summary
16 to 24 year olds were more likely to be economically inactive than older people. This is partly because people in this age group were more likely to be students.
This data shows that:
- between 2004 and 2018, the total economic inactivity rate among 16 to 24 year olds went up from 32% to 39%
- the only ethnic groups where the increase was reliable were the White British and Other White ethnic groups
8. By ethnicity and area
All | White | Other than White | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Region | All % | All Number of people economically inactive | White % | White Number of people economically inactive | Other than White % | Other than White Number of people economically inactive |
All | 22 | 8,624,100 | 20 | 6,849,300 | 30 | 1,763,200 |
East Midlands | 22 | 638,700 | 20 | 519,300 | 32 | 118,800 |
East of England | 19 | 720,400 | 19 | 634,900 | 22 | 85,400 |
London | 22 | 1,310,900 | 17 | 627,700 | 28 | 678,800 |
North East | 25 | 406,200 | 24 | 373,600 | 39 | 32,600 |
North West | 23 | 1,037,200 | 21 | 840,900 | 35 | 195,000 |
Scotland | 23 | 777,600 | 22 | 710,800 | 38 | 66,500 |
South East | 19 | 1,065,300 | 19 | 923,800 | 24 | 139,200 |
South West | 19 | 621,200 | 18 | 570,600 | 27 | 50,500 |
Wales | 23 | 446,200 | 23 | 415,300 | 32 | 30,500 |
West Midlands | 23 | 826,600 | 21 | 599,400 | 32 | 226,600 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 23 | 773,800 | 21 | 633,000 | 36 | 139,400 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV)
Summary of Economic inactivity By ethnicity and area Summary
This data shows that:
- White people had a lower economic inactivity rate than people from the Other than White ethnic group (made up of all other ethnic groups combined) in every region except the East of England, where the difference between the two groups was too small to be reliable
- the gap between the White and Other than White ethnic groups was biggest in Scotland, where 22% of White people and 38% of those from the Other ethnic group were economically inactive
- out of all combinations of ethnicity and region, the lowest rate of economic inactivity was among White people in London, at 17%
- the highest rate was among people from the Other ethnic group in the North East, at 39%
9. By ethnicity, disability and gender
All | Men | Women | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ethnicity | All All (%) | All Disabled (%) | All Non-disabled (%) | Men All (%) | Men Disabled (%) | Men Non-disabled (%) | Women All (%) | Women Disabled (%) | Women Non-disabled (%) |
All | 22 | 44 | 16 | 17 | 42 | 12 | 26 | 45 | 21 |
Asian | 30 | 46 | 27 | 19 | 35 | 17 | 41 | 55 | 38 |
Indian | 21 | 36 | 18 | 14 | 31 | 12 | 28 | 40 | 26 |
Pakistani, Bangladeshi | 38 | 52 | 34 | 21 | 35 | 18 | 56 | 66 | 52 |
Asian Other | 32 | 47 | 30 | 25 | 43 | 23 | 38 | 51 | 36 |
Black | 27 | 48 | 23 | 21 | 49 | 17 | 31 | 47 | 28 |
Mixed | 28 | 48 | 23 | 23 | 42 | 19 | 32 | 53 | 27 |
White | 20 | 43 | 14 | 16 | 42 | 11 | 24 | 44 | 19 |
White British | 21 | 44 | 15 | 17 | 43 | 11 | 24 | 45 | 18 |
White Other | 15 | 34 | 13 | 9 | 31 | 7 | 21 | 36 | 19 |
Other | 34 | 53 | 31 | 24 | 48 | 19 | 44 | 57 | 41 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity, disability and gender’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity, disability and gender’ (CSV)
Summary of Economic inactivity By ethnicity, disability and gender Summary
This data shows that:
- the total economic inactivity rate was 44% for disabled people and 16% for non-disabled people
- in every ethnic group, disabled people had a higher economic inactivity rate than non-disabled people
- among disabled people, the highest economic inactivity rate was in the Other ethnic group (at 53%) and the lowest was in the Other White ethnic group (at 34%)
- among disabled women, the highest economic inactivity rate was in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group (at 66%) and the lowest was in the Other White ethnic group (36%)
- among disabled men, the highest economic inactivity rate was in the Black ethnic group (at 49%) and the lowest was in the Indian and Other White ethnic groups (both at 31%)
10. Methodology
The Annual Population Survey is a continuous household survey. Most people are interviewed in person first, and later by telephone.
The sample is formed from:
- waves 1 and 5 of the Labour Force Survey (in which selected addresses are contacted every 3 months)
- boost cases that are in the sample for 4 waves, spread one year apart
Participants are randomly selected from the Royal Mail postcode address file. The NHS communal accommodation list is also used and (in the case of remote parts of Scotland) telephone directories. All eligible individuals found at the selected address may be interviewed.
People are included in the dataset for this analysis if they respond themselves or if a family member responds on their behalf. The complex survey design has been taken into account when calculating confidence intervals.
Weighting:
The sample of approximately 275,000 people undergoes weighting at local authority level, using age and sex dimensions.
Weighting adjusts the results of a survey to make them representative of the population and make them more reliable.
For example, a survey of 25 women and 75 men will not accurately reflect the views of the general population, which is around 50% male and 50% female.
The weighting for this data is based on Office for National Statistics population statistics.
Confidence intervals:
Download the data for confidence intervals for each ethnic group.
The data from the APS is based on a sample of the population in England, Wales and Scotland, rather than the whole population. The estimates obtained from this sample are reliable estimates but it’s impossible to be 100% certain of the true percentage for the whole population.
For example, it is estimated that 20.1% of White people of working age were economically inactive in 2018. It’s 95% certain that somewhere between 19.8% (lower confidence interval) and 20.4% (upper confidence interval) of White 16 to 64 year olds were economically inactive in 2018. In statistical terms, this is a 95% confidence interval. This means that if 100 random samples were taken, then 95 times out of 100 the estimate would fall between the lower and upper bounds of the confidence interval. But 5 times out of 100 it would fall outside this range.
The smaller the survey sample, the more uncertain the estimate and the wider the confidence interval. For example, the sample has less data for individuals from the Black ethnic group than from the White ethnic group, so we can be less certain about the estimate for the smaller group. This greater uncertainty is expressed by a wider confidence interval, of between 24.5% and 28.7% for the Black ethnic group compared to 19.8% and 20.4% for the White ethnic group in 2018.
Suppression rules and disclosure control
In data covering all ethnic groups together, estimates based on sample sizes of less than 30 have been suppressed. For data broken down by ethnic groups, estimates based on sample sizes under 100 have been suppressed.
‘Suppression’ means these figures have not been included in the data, to protect confidentiality and because the numbers involved are too small to draw any reliable conclusions.
Rounding
Estimates in the charts and tables are rounded to whole percentages. Estimates in the download file are rounded to 1 decimal place.
Quality and methodology information
11. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Office for National Statistics
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The Annual Population Survey (APS) is the largest ongoing household survey in the UK and covers a range of topics, including:
- personal characteristics
- labour market status
- work characteristics
- education
- health
The purpose of the APS is to provide information on important social and socio-economic variables at local levels, such as labour market estimates.
The published statistics also allow government to monitor estimates on a range of issues between Censuses.
12. Download the data
This file contains the following: Measure, Measure_type, Ethnicity, Ethnicity_type, Time, Time_type, Region, Age, Age_type, Sex, Value, Confidence_interval, Numerator, Denominator, Sample_size
This file contains the following: Measure, Measure_type, Ethnicity, Ethnicity_type, Time, Time_type, Local_authority, Age, Value, Confidence_interval, Numerator, Denominator, Sample_size
This file contains the following: Measure, Measure_type, Ethnicity, Ethnicity_type, Time, Time_Type, Region, Age, Age_Type, Sex, Disability, Value, Confidence_Interval, Numerator, Denominator, Sample_Size.