Full time and part time employment

Published 28 November 2023

Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• in 2022, 76% of working age people (16 to 64 year olds) who were employed worked full time, and 24% worked part time
• in every ethnic group, women were more likely to work part time than men
• employees from the white ‘other’ and Indian ethnic groups were the most likely to work full time (both 82%)
• employees in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group were the most likely to work part time (30%)
• the percentage of employees working part time went down or stayed the same for all ethnic groups except for the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi (up from 27% to 30%) and black (up from 23% to 26%) ethnic groups
• the biggest gap between men and women working part time was in the white British and combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups

2. Things you need to know

What the data measures

The data measures the number and percentage of employed 16 to 64 year olds who were in full time and part time employment in their main job. The data covers England, Wales and Scotland.

In the Annual Population Survey, respondents decide if they are in part time or full time employment.

A person of working age is counted as employed if they either:

• are in paid work, as an employee or self-employed
• have a job that they are temporarily away from, for example on holiday
• are on a government-supported training or employment programme
• are doing unpaid family work, for example working in a family business

Percentages are rounded to whole numbers. Population numbers are rounded to the nearest 100 people, but employment rates have been calculated using unrounded data.

Not included in the data

The data does not include estimates based on fewer than:

• 30 survey respondents for data which includes all ethnic groups together
• 100 survey respondents for data by ethnicity

This is to protect people’s confidentiality and because the numbers involved are too small to make reliable generalisations.

The ethnic categories used in this data

The data uses the ethnic categories from the 2011 Census.

Data is aggregated for the black, mixed and ‘other’ ethnic groups, which means estimates are shown for these groups as a whole.

Data is shown separately for the white British and ‘other’ white ethnic groups. Separate figures are also shown for 3 different Asian ethnic groups (Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi combined, and ‘other’ Asian).

People whose ethnicity is not known are included in the figures for ‘All’.

Methodology

Read the detailed methodology document for this data.

The Annual Population Survey updated its ethnicity questions in 2011. As a result, estimates from before and after 2011 may not be consistent, and data for individual ethnic groups in 2011 is not available.

There are separate employment figures in the ethnicity pay gap data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in November 2023. The rates by ethnicity may be different to those shown on this page, because:

• the ONS data excludes extreme values that differ from most other data points in a dataset (‘outliers’)
• the datasets use different weighting rules

The figures on this page are based on survey data. Find out more about:

• interpreting survey data, including how reliability is affected by the number of people surveyed
• how weighting is used to make survey data more representative of the whole group being studied

In the data file

See Download the data for:

• estimates by region, and by region and sex for all ethnic groups
• confidence intervals for each ethnic group – see how we use confidence intervals to demonstrate the reliability of survey estimates
• sample sizes
• estimates rounded to 1 decimal place
• estimates for employed people who did not report whether they worked full time or part time

3. By ethnicity

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2022
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of employed 16 to 64 year olds who were in full time and part time employment, by ethnicity

	Full-time		Part-time
Ethnicity	Full-time %	Full-time Number of people employed	Part-time %	Part-time Number of people employed
All	76	23,273,100	24	7,174,700
Asian	77	1,844,100	23	540,300
Indian	82	820,600	17	173,600
Pakistani, Bangladeshi	69	500,000	30	215,900
Asian other	77	523,500	22	150,900
Black	74	797,000	26	274,700
Mixed	74	358,400	25	122,300
White	76	19,789,200	24	6,086,500
White British	76	17,699,600	24	5,617,600
White other	82	2,089,600	18	469,000
Other	76	468,800	24	147,800
Unknown

Data withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Full time and part time employment By ethnicity Summary

The data shows that:

• 76% of working age people (16 to 64 year olds) who were employed worked full time, and 24% worked part time
• out of all ethnic groups, employees in the white ‘other’ and Indian ethnic groups (both 82%) were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to work full time – employees in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group were the least likely (69%)
• people in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group were the most likely to work part time (30%) – people from the Indian ethnic group were the least likely (17%)

4. By ethnicity over time (full time only)

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2004 to 2022
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of employed 16 to 64 year olds who were in full time employment, by ethnicity over time

	All		Asian		Indian		Pakistani, Bangladeshi		Asian other		Black		Mixed		White		White British		White other		Other		Unknown
Ethnicity	All %	All Number of people employed	Asian %	Asian Number of people employed	Indian %	Indian Number of people employed	Pakistani, Bangladeshi %	Pakistani, Bangladeshi Number of people employed	Asian other %	Asian other Number of people employed	Black %	Black Number of people employed	Mixed %	Mixed Number of people employed	White %	White Number of people employed	White British %	White British Number of people employed	White other %	White other Number of people employed	Other %	Other Number of people employed	Unknown %	Unknown Number of people employed
2004	75	20,391,100	76	833,400	78	416,500	72	228,500	76	188,400	76	375,400	74	123,900	75	18,846,500	75	17,837,900	79	1,008,600	76	193,300	80	18,500
2005	75	20,600,000	76	876,000	79	431,900	71	231,600	76	212,500	76	403,200	74	124,900	75	18,944,200	75	17,835,300	80	1,108,900	77	234,400	79	17,400
2006	76	20,836,300	77	933,500	80	468,500	72	250,400	76	214,600	76	441,400	73	131,800	76	19,050,700	75	17,732,500	81	1,318,200	76	265,600
2007	76	21,019,700	76	987,400	80	482,900	73	266,900	73	237,600	75	460,500	72	138,300	75	19,123,800	75	17,727,400	81	1,396,400	77	297,300
2008	75	21,082,400	76	1,055,200	80	504,400	70	278,000	74	272,800	76	472,200	75	144,700	75	19,092,200	75	17,627,400	82	1,464,800	78	308,400
2009	75	20,498,300	73	1,058,300	79	520,200	66	279,300	71	258,900	75	456,300	74	155,100	75	18,535,600	74	17,103,400	79	1,432,200	75	276,100
2010	74	20,344,900	72	1,078,800	79	542,900	63	273,100	71	262,800	72	472,100	73	159,600	74	18,337,900	74	16,887,100	79	1,450,800	71	277,200	75	19,300
2011	74	20,374,100
2012	74	20,475,700	72	1,202,200	77	566,600	66	333,300	71	302,300	72	495,200	71	174,200	74	18,311,700	74	16,903,200	80	1,408,500	72	279,900
2013	74	20,778,900	74	1,236,800	78	572,800	67	355,500	74	308,500	71	499,800	69	185,600	74	18,557,100	74	17,133,200	79	1,423,900	73	289,100
2014	74	21,202,800	73	1,326,500	79	620,600	68	392,600	70	313,300	69	520,900	71	204,300	75	18,819,900	74	17,229,700	80	1,590,200	72	295,700	73	35,500
2015	74	21,688,200	74	1,374,300	80	639,400	67	396,900	72	338,000	70	606,300	67	201,100	75	19,180,500	74	17,438,700	80	1,741,800	69	299,000	76	26,900
2016	75	22,015,000	75	1,486,000	81	668,200	71	449,000	72	368,700	70	624,700	69	222,600	75	19,333,300	74	17,396,600	81	1,936,700	71	331,000
2017	75	22,381,300	74	1,493,500	79	661,200	68	445,100	74	387,100	71	609,200	69	249,800	75	19,657,500	74	17,633,300	80	2,024,200	75	359,100
2018	75	22,581,000	75	1,563,800	82	697,400	69	493,200	73	373,200	72	674,300	73	267,000	75	19,707,200	75	17,675,600	82	2,031,600	72	349,200
2019	75	22,885,200	75	1,610,600	81	728,500	69	494,200	73	387,900	72	722,100	74	271,300	75	19,893,300	75	17,779,900	82	2,113,400	73	376,000
2020	76	22,978,000	76	1,601,100	81	759,200	69	418,900	76	423,100	73	704,700	71	315,800	76	19,980,300	76	17,924,200	82	2,056,100	76	357,000
2021	77	23,090,600	78	1,681,600	82	775,700	69	444,100	80	461,800	75	730,000	77	342,600	77	19,944,500	76	17,894,200	82	2,050,200	76	376,800
2022	76	23,273,100	77	1,844,100	82	820,600	69	500,000	77	523,500	74	797,000	74	358,400	76	19,789,200	76	17,699,600	82	2,089,600	76	468,800

Data not collected Data withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Full time and part time employment By ethnicity over time (full time only) Summary

The data shows that, between 2004 and 2022:

• the percentage of all employed 16 to 64 year olds who worked full time ranged from 75% to 76%
• employees in the white ‘other’ and Indian ethnic groups were consistently the most likely to be in full time employment
• the percentage of employees in the Indian ethnic group who worked full time went up from 78% to 82% – the biggest increase out of all ethnic groups
• employees in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group were consistently the least likely to be in full time employment
• the percentage of people working full-time in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group went down from 72% to 69%

5. By ethnicity over time (part time only)

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2004 to 2022
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of employed 16 to 64 year olds who were in part time employment, by ethnicity over time

	All		Asian		Indian		Pakistani, Bangladeshi		Asian other		Black		Mixed		White		White British		White other		Other		Unknown
Ethnicity	All %	All Number of people employed	Asian %	Asian Number of people employed	Indian %	Indian Number of people employed	Pakistani, Bangladeshi %	Pakistani, Bangladeshi Number of people employed	Asian other %	Asian other Number of people employed	Black %	Black Number of people employed	Mixed %	Mixed Number of people employed	White %	White Number of people employed	White British %	White British Number of people employed	White other %	White other Number of people employed	Other %	Other Number of people employed	Unknown %	Unknown Number of people employed
2004	25	6,618,000	24	257,400	21	112,800	27	85,600	24	59,000	23	114,200	26	43,100	25	6,138,900	25	5,874,100	21	264,800	24	60,500	17	4,000
2005	25	6,725,900	24	274,400	21	114,300	29	93,700	24	66,400	24	128,100	26	44,900	25	6,202,400	25	5,920,200	20	282,200	23	71,500	21	4,600
2006	24	6,722,400	23	282,000	20	117,200	28	96,200	24	68,600	24	140,300	27	49,200	24	6,165,700	25	5,848,300	19	317,500	23	81,300
2007	24	6,783,700	24	304,000	20	119,900	27	99,100	26	85,000	24	149,500	28	53,400	24	6,187,400	25	5,872,500	18	314,900	22	85,900
2008	24	6,814,300	24	337,200	20	126,200	29	116,600	26	94,400	24	147,500	25	47,900	24	6,188,700	25	5,859,300	18	329,400	22	87,700
2009	25	6,940,800	27	383,900	21	138,900	33	140,800	29	104,300	25	153,600	26	55,400	25	6,252,800	26	5,877,900	21	374,900	25	91,600
2010	26	7,067,600	27	409,700	21	144,000	37	159,800	29	105,800	27	178,200	26	57,300	26	6,307,400	26	5,936,600	20	370,800	28	108,900	24	6,200
2011	26	7,104,400
2012	26	7,208,800	28	457,700	23	166,500	33	165,700	29	125,600	28	193,200	28	70,300	26	6,377,200	26	6,038,300	19	338,900	28	107,300
2013	26	7,212,700	26	440,700	22	160,600	33	173,000	26	107,200	29	201,800	31	82,500	26	6,376,000	26	6,009,000	20	367,000	27	106,400
2014	26	7,315,000	27	479,100	21	166,100	32	182,400	29	130,700	30	224,200	28	81,600	25	6,402,700	26	6,018,600	19	384,200	28	114,300	27	13,100
2015	26	7,448,900	26	481,600	20	158,300	32	189,700	28	133,700	29	249,300	32	95,600	25	6,481,300	26	6,056,700	20	424,500	31	132,600	24	8,500
2016	25	7,431,600	25	483,900	19	154,800	29	186,900	28	142,200	29	256,100	31	99,900	25	6,452,100	26	6,008,600	19	443,500	29	134,100
2017	25	7,513,700	26	516,800	21	171,500	32	209,900	26	135,400	29	244,800	31	110,400	25	6,515,700	25	6,025,500	20	490,200	25	119,500
2018	25	7,488,800	25	515,200	18	157,400	31	219,200	27	138,600	28	262,900	27	98,500	25	6,469,400	25	6,025,200	18	444,300	28	138,300
2019	25	7,505,100	25	527,200	19	169,400	31	217,100	27	140,800	27	269,900	26	95,200	25	6,475,900	25	6,003,100	18	472,800	26	133,700
2020	24	7,228,600	24	494,900	19	172,800	31	190,600	24	131,500	27	259,700	29	129,200	24	6,229,800	24	5,778,300	18	451,500	24	110,500
2021	23	6,894,900	22	486,100	18	166,700	31	200,800	20	118,600	24	236,600	23	102,500	23	5,944,800	24	5,507,300	18	437,500	24	118,200
2022	24	7,174,700	23	540,300	17	173,600	30	215,900	22	150,900	26	274,700	25	122,300	24	6,086,500	24	5,617,600	18	469,000	24	147,800

Data not collected Data withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Full time and part time employment By ethnicity over time (part time only) Summary

The data shows that, between 2004 and 2022:

• the percentage of employees working part-time went down or stayed the same for all ethnic groups except for the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi (up from 27% to 30%) and black (up from 23% to 26%) ethnic groups
• people in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group were consistently among the most likely to be employed part time
• the percentage of people from the Indian ethnic group working part time went down from 21% to 17% – it went down from 21% to 18% for the white ‘other’ ethnic group

6. By ethnicity and gender (men only)

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2022
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of employed 16 to 64 year old men who were in full time and part time employment, by ethnicity

	Full-time		Part-time
Ethnicity	Full-time %	Full-time Number of people employed	Part-time %	Part-time Number of people employed
All	88	14,009,200	11	1,812,600
Asian	85	1,127,900	15	196,600
Indian	89	493,500	11	60,500
Pakistani, Bangladeshi	79	357,300	21	92,500
Asian other	86	277,100	14	43,600
Black	86	405,800	14	64,300
Mixed	83	183,100	16	34,800
White	89	11,989,500	11	1,461,800
White British	89	10,851,300	11	1,359,700
White other	92	1,138,200	8	102,100
Other	84	292,800	16	54,100
Unknown

Data withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Full time and part time employment By ethnicity and gender (men only) Summary

The data shows that, among working age men in employment:

• men from the white ‘other’ ethnic group were the most likely to work full time (92%) – men from the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group were the least likely (79%)
• men from the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group were the most likely to work part time (21%) – men from the white ‘other’ ethnic group were the least likely (8%)

7. By ethnicity and gender (women only)

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2022
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of employed 16 to 64 year old women who were in full time and part-time employment, by ethnicity

	Full-time		Part-time
Ethnicity	Full-time %	Full-time Number of people employed	Part-time %	Part-time Number of people employed
All	63	9,263,800	37	5,362,100
Asian	67	716,200	32	343,700
Indian	74	327,100	26	113,000
Pakistani, Bangladeshi	53	142,600	46	123,400
Asian other	70	246,500	30	107,300
Black	65	391,200	35	210,400
Mixed	67	175,400	33	87,500
White	63	7,799,700	37	4,624,800
White British	62	6,848,300	38	4,257,800
White other	72	951,300	28	366,900
Other	65	176,000	35	93,700
Unknown

Data withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Full time and part time employment By ethnicity and gender (women only) Summary

The data shows that, among working age women in employment:

• women from the Indian (74%) and white ‘other’ (72%) ethnic groups were the most likely to work full time out of all ethnic groups
• women from the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group were the least likely to work full time (53%) and most likely to work part time (46%)
• women from the Indian (26%) and white ‘other’ ethnic groups (28%) were the least likely to work part time

8. Data sources

Source

Annual Population Survey

Type of data

Survey data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Office for National Statistics

Note on corrections or updates

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.

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 the government to monitor estimates on a range of issues between censuses.

9. Download the data

Employment by Full Time and Part Time (2022 data) - Spreadsheet (csv) 2 MB

This file contains the following: Measure, Employment_type (full time, part time, unknown), Ethnicity, Ethnicity_type, Time, Time_Type, Geography, Geography_type, Sex, Value, Value_type, Confidence_interval, Numerator, Denominator, Sample_size

Publication release date: 28 November 2023

full page history

1. 28 November 2023 Updated with the latest available data (for 2022).

From: Office for National Statistics

Previous editions:

1. 9 September 2022
2. 18 May 2021

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