Economic inactivity

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1. Main facts and figures

  • in 2016, the total working age population in England, Wales and Scotland was just under 40 million, of which a little over 34 million people were White and nearly 6 million people were from all Other ethnic groups

  • in 2016, the economic inactivity rate – the number of people who are economically inactive as a percentage of the total working age population – was 21% for White British people and 30% for people from all Other ethnic groups, a difference of nine percentage points

  • in 2016, there were around 1.74 million economically inactive people from ethnic minorities (other than White ethnic minorities), which accounted for close to 20% of all people who are economically inactive

  • in 2016, the economic inactivity rate for Pakistani/Bangladeshi women was 59%, which is 33 percentage points higher than for White British women

Things you need to know

The Annual Population Survey (APS) is a ‘sample survey’. It collects information from a random sample of the population to make generalisations (reach 'findings') about the total population.

The commentary for this data includes only reliable, or ‘statistically significant’, findings. Findings are statistically significant when we can be confident that they can be repeated, and are reflective of the total population rather than just the survey sample.

Specifically, the statistical tests used mean we can be confident that if we carried out the same survey on different random samples of the population, 19 times out of 20 we would get similar findings.

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.

Smaller numbers of survey respondents from ethnic minority backgrounds mean that estimates for all Other ethnic groups are more unreliable than estimates for White people (which includes White British and White ethnic minorities).

Results taken from a low number of responses are more likely to be affected by statistical variation, so observed changes might not reflect real differences. As such, caution is needed when interpreting short-term trends in the data, especially for sub groups (for example, a specific ethnic group, age group and gender).

When looking at data for ‘All’ groups, any values based on fewer than 30 responses have been withheld, and when further breaking down the data by ethnicity, any values based on fewer than 100 responses have been withheld. This is to protect confidentiality or because the numbers involved are too small to draw any reliable conclusions.

Data is sourced from the Annual Population Survey to get lower level details such as local authority area. Higher-level figures may differ slightly from reports published by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Office for National Statistics that also use the Labour Force Survey.

Changes were made to the Labour Force Survey (and therefore the Annual Population Survey) ethnicity questions in January to March 2011, to bring them more in line with Census data collection on these topics. In April to June 2011 further changes were made to the ethnicity questions to bring them in line with Scottish Census data collection. As a result, there may be some inconsistencies with estimates from earlier than 2011.

What the data measures

This data measures the ‘economic inactivity rate’ in England, Wales and Scotland across different ethnic groups.

The ‘economic inactivity rate’ is the number of people who are economically inactive as a percentage of the total ‘working age’ population. ‘Working age’ includes everyone 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 will be 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 (APS), 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

Where possible, data is broken down by 9 groups:

  • White British
  • White Other
  • Black
  • Mixed
  • Indian
  • Pakistani/Bangladeshi
  • Other Asian
  • Other ethnic groups
  • Unreported – where the ethnicity has not been recorded or the person chose not to state their ethnicity

However, in cases where the number of people surveyed (the ‘sample size’) was too small to draw any firm conclusions, the data is broken down into:

  • White – White ethnic groups, including White British and White ethnic minorities
  • all Other ethnic groups – all other ethnic minorities

People whose ethnicity is 'Unreported' are counted in measurements for ‘all’ groups, such as all people who are economically inactive, and not counted where data is broken down by White compared with all Other ethnic groups.

2. Economic inactivity by ethnicity

Location:
England, Wales and Scotland
Time period:
2016
Source:
Annual Population Survey
Percentage and number of people who are economically inactive by ethnicity
Ethnicity % Number
All 22 8,835,000
Asian 32 997,000
Indian 23 261,000
Pakistani/Bangladeshi 39 460,000
Asian other 34 276,000
Black 25 337,000
Mixed 28 143,000
White 21 7,087,000
White British 21 6,590,000
White other 17 497,000
Other 34 260,000

Download table data for ‘Economic inactivity by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Economic inactivity by ethnicity’ (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity Economic inactivity by ethnicity Summary

This data shows that:

  • in 2016, approximately 8.84 million people of working age (people aged 16 to 64 years) were economically inactive; this is around 22% of the working age population

  • in 2016, the Pakistani/Bangladeshi group had the highest economic inactivity rate (39%), 18 percentage points higher than the White British group

  • in 2016, the White Other group had the lowest economic inactivity rate, at 17%

3. Economic inactivity by White and Other ethnicities

Location:
England, Wales and Scotland
Time period:
2016
Source:
Annual Population Survey
Percentage and number of people who are economically inactive by White and Other ethnicities
Ethnicity % Number
All 22 8,835,000
White 21 7,087,000
Other 30 1,737,000

Download table data for ‘Economic inactivity by White and Other ethnicities’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Economic inactivity by White and Other ethnicities’ (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity Economic inactivity by White and Other ethnicities Summary

  • in 2016, approximately 8.84 million people of working age (people aged 16 to 64 years) were economically inactive; this is around 22% of the working age population

  • 7.09 million of those economically inactive people were White, which is around 21% of the working age White population

  • 1.74 million of those 8.84 million economically inactive people were from an ethnic minority (other than a White ethnic minority), which is around 30% of the working age ethnic minority population

4. Economic inactivity by ethnicity over time

Location:
England, Wales and Scotland
Time period:
2004 to 2016
Source:
Annual Population Survey
Percentage of people who are economically inactive by ethnicity from 2004 to 2016
Ethnicity 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
% % % % % % % % % % % % %
All 24 24 23 23 23 23 24 24 23 23 23 22 22
Indian 27 26 25 26 26 25 24 N/A* 23 24 24 24 23
Pakistani/Bangladeshi 49 49 48 48 46 44 44 N/A* 42 41 40 40 39
Asian other 36 36 34 33 31 32 36 N/A* 34 36 33 32 34
Black 31 30 28 28 28 29 28 N/A* 27 26 27 26 25
Mixed 29 30 27 28 31 30 28 N/A* 29 26 28 28 28
White British 22 22 22 22 22 22 23 N/A* 22 22 22 21 21
White other 25 23 21 21 21 21 21 N/A* 20 19 19 17 17
Other 38 36 36 36 35 36 35 N/A* 35 35 37 35 34

* Not applicable

Download table data for ‘Economic inactivity by ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Economic inactivity by ethnicity over time’ (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity Economic inactivity by ethnicity over time Summary

This data shows that:

  • from 2004 to 2016, the economic inactivity rate for the White Other group fell from 25% to 17%, and the rate for the Pakistani/Bangladeshi group fell from 49% to 39%

  • from 2004 to 2016, the Pakistani/Bangladeshi group consistently had the highest rate of economic inactivity

5. Economic inactivity by ethnicity and region

Location:
England, Wales and Scotland
Time period:
2016
Source:
Annual Population Survey
Percentage and number of people in economic inactivity by ethnicity and region
White All other ethnic groups
Region White % White Number All other ethnic groups % All other ethnic groups Number
All 21 7,087,000 30 1,737,000
East Midlands 21 537,000 32 100,000
East of England 19 646,000 27 103,000
London 18 645,000 27 654,000
North East 24 372,000 36 32,000
North West 23 916,000 36 179,000
Scotland 23 728,000 38 64,000
South East 18 915,000 26 135,000
South West 19 606,000 26 45,000
Wales 25 445,000 39 34,000
West Midlands 22 621,000 35 255,000
Yorkshire and The Humber 22 656,000 36 135,000

Download table data for ‘Economic inactivity by ethnicity and region’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Economic inactivity by ethnicity and region’ (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity Economic inactivity by ethnicity and region Summary

This data shows that:

  • in all regions across the country in 2016, the White group had a lower economic inactivity rate than all Other ethnic groups

  • in 2016, the largest gap between the economic inactivity rate for White people and the rate for people from all Other ethnic groups was in Scotland, at 15 percentage points

  • both London and the South East had the lowest economic inactivity rates for White people, at 18%, and the South East and the South West had the lowest rates for all Other ethnic groups, at 26%

6. Economic inactivity by ethnicity and gender

Location:
England, Wales and Scotland
Time period:
2016
Source:
Annual Population Survey
Percentage and number of economically inactive people by ethnicity and gender
Female Male
Ethnicity Female % Female Number Male % Male Number
All 27 5,497,000 17 3,339,000
Indian 32 177,000 14 84,000
Asian other 41 181,000 25 94,000
Pakistani/Bangladeshi 59 330,000 21 130,000
Black 29 214,000 21 123,000
Mixed 31 87,000 24 56,000
White British 26 3,971,000 17 2,619,000
White other 23 362,000 9 135,000
Other 45 168,000 24 92,000

Download table data for ‘Economic inactivity by ethnicity and gender’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Economic inactivity by ethnicity and gender’ (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity Economic inactivity by ethnicity and gender Summary

This data shows that:

  • in 2016, women had higher economic inactivity rates than men in all ethnic groups

  • in 2016, the Other Asian group had the highest economic inactivity rate for men (25%), and the Pakistani/Bangladeshi group had the highest rate for women (59%)

  • in 2016, the gap between the economic inactivity rate for men and women was at its highest in the Pakistani/Bangladeshi group, at 38 percentage points

7. Economic inactivity by ethnicity and age

Location:
England, Wales and Scotland
Time period:
2016
Source:
Annual Population Survey
Percentage and number of economically inactive people by ethnicity and age
16-24 25-49 50-64
Ethnicity 16-24 % 16-24 Number 25-49 % 25-49 Number 50-64 % 50-64 Number
All 38 2,671,000 14 2,937,000 27 3,226,000
Indian 59 94,000 14 108,000 27 59,000
Pakistani/Bangladeshi 56 150,000 32 243,000 46 67,000
Asian other 68 121,000 23 115,000 28 40,000
Black 50 140,000 18 131,000 22 66,000
Mixed 47 82,000 16 44,000 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable
White British 35 1,866,000 12 1,893,000 27 2,831,000
White other 36 136,000 12 261,000 23 101,000
Other 61 79,000 28 140,000 32 41,000

Data withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable

Download table data for ‘Economic inactivity by ethnicity and age’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Economic inactivity by ethnicity and age’ (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity Economic inactivity by ethnicity and age Summary

This data shows that:

  • in 2016, people aged 16 to 24 years had the highest economic inactivity rate across all ethnic groups; this is likely to reflect high levels of full-time education within this age group

  • in 2016, the next highest economic inactivity rate across all ethnic groups was for people aged 50 to 64 years

  • amongst people aged 16 to 24 years in 2016, the highest economic inactivity rate was for the Other Asian group, at 68%

  • amongst people aged 25 to 64 years in 2016, the Pakistani/Bangladeshi group had the highest economic inactivity rates, at 32% and 46% respectively

  • in 2016, the White group consistently had the lowest economic inactivity rates across all age groups

8. Economic inactivity for 16 to 24 year olds over time

Location:
England, Wales and Scotland
Time period:
2004 to 2016
Source:
Annual Population Survey
Percentage of economically inactive 16 to 24 year olds over time
Ethnicity 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
% % % % % % % % % % % % %
All 32 32 33 33 34 35 38 37 37 38 39 37 38
Indian 46 49 44 45 48 51 51 N/A* 46 54 58 54 59
Pakistani/Bangladeshi 56 55 52 56 52 54 56 N/A* 56 52 55 53 56
Asian other 57 60 60 62 59 65 70 N/A* 68 69 69 67 68
Black 47 50 48 49 53 52 55 N/A* 53 53 54 56 50
Mixed 39 41 38 39 45 47 45 N/A* 42 38 43 46 47
White British 29 29 30 31 31 32 34 N/A* 34 34 35 34 35
White other 36 30 27 31 30 35 37 N/A* 44 42 41 36 36
Other 55 53 53 55 50 60 61 N/A* 58 63 65 59 61

* Not applicable

Download table data for ‘Economic inactivity for 16 to 24 year olds over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Economic inactivity for 16 to 24 year olds over time’ (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity Economic inactivity for 16 to 24 year olds over time Summary

This data shows that:

  • from 2004 to 2016, people aged 16 to 24 years in the Other Asian group consistently had the highest rate of economic inactivity

  • from 2004 to 2016, White British people aged 16 to 24 years had the lowest rate of economic inactivity, except in 2008, when the rate for that group was the second lowest

  • from 2004 to 2016, people aged 16 to 24 years from the White Other group had the second lowest rate of economic inactivity, except in 2008, when the rate for that group was the lowest

9. Methodology

The Annual Population Survey is a continuous household survey and is a ‘sample survey’. This means it collects information from a random sample of the population to make generalisations (reach 'findings’) about the total population (such as economic inactivity). Most people are interviewed face to face at first, and later by telephone. The sample is formed partly from waves 1 and 5 of the Labour Force Survey (in which selected addresses are contacted every 3 months) and partly from boost cases which are in the sample for 4 waves, spread one year apart.

Participants are randomly selected from the Royal Mail Postcode address File (PAF) although we also use the NHS communal accommodation list and (in the case of remote parts of Scotland) telephone directories. All eligible individuals found at the selected address may be interviewed. Only those for whom either the individual responds or another family member gives a proxy response are included in the dataset used for this analysis. The complex survey design has been taken into account when calculating confidence intervals.

The achieved sample of approximately 275,000 undergoes weighting which is structured at local authority level and uses age and sex dimensions. The Office for National Statistics population estimates and projections are used as the basis for this weighting process.

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.

Quality and methodology information

10. 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.

11. Download the data

Economic inactivity by region - Spreadsheet (csv) 1 MB

This file contains economic inactivity rates by ethnicity, time, gender, region, age, numerator, denominator, sample size and confidence intervals

Economic inactivity by local authority - Spreadsheet (csv) 659 KB

This file contains economic inactivity rates by ethnicity, time, gender, local authority area, age, with numerator, denominator, sample size and confidence intervals

Publication release date: 10 October 2017

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From: Office for National Statistics

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