Economic inactivity

Published 21 September 2018

There is a new version of this page. View the latest version.

Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• in 2017, the total working age population (people aged 16 to 64 years) in England, Wales and Scotland was just under 40 million – of those, just over 34 million people were White, and nearly 6 million people were from all other ethnic groups combined
• the main definition of economic inactivity is if a person is out of work and not looking for a job – in 2017, there were 8.6 million economically inactive people in England, with 6.9 million coming from White ethnic groups, and 1.7 million from all other ethnic groups combined
• the economic inactivity rate in 2017 was 20% for White people and 30% for people from all other ethnic groups combined, a difference of 9 percentage points – the economic inactivity rate is the number of economically inactive people as a percentage of the total working age population
• in 2017, 56% of Pakistani/Bangladeshi women were economically inactive, compared with 23% of Pakistani/Bangladeshi Men (a gap of 33 percentage points), and 25% of White British women (a gap of 31 percentage points)

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.

Results taken from a sample which has 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. When further breaking down the data by individual ethnic groups, any values based on fewer than 100 responses have been withheld. This is to protect respondents’ confidentiality or because the numbers involved are too small to draw any reliable conclusions.

Data is sourced from the APS to get more detailed information such as economic inactivity by 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.

Changes were made to the APS ethnicity questions in 2011, to make them more consistent with ethnicity questions in the national Census and Scottish Census. As a result, there may be some inconsistencies between estimates from before and after 2011, and data on economic inactivity rates for individual ethnic groups in 2011 is not available.

What the data measures

This data measures the rate of economic inactivity rate for different ethnic groups in England, Wales and Scotland. Data is also broken down by gender, age group and area.

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 or Bangladeshi
• Any other Asian ethnicity (including Chinese)

Black

Mixed/multiple ethnicities

White:

• White British
• White other

Any other ethnic group

Where data is broken down by gender, age group, and area, the number of people surveyed (the ‘sample size’) was too small to draw any firm conclusions about specific ethnic categories, so data is shown for the following 2 categories:

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

People whose ethnicity is 'Unknown' (because their ethnicity was not recorded or they chose not to state their ethnicity) are counted when calculating the total number of people in employment (shown as the ‘All’ group in the data).

2. Economic inactivity by ethnicity

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2017
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of people aged 16 to 64 years who were economically inactive within each ethnic group

Ethnicity	%	Total economically inactive
All	22	8,629,000
Asian	31	982,000
Indian	22	247,000
Pakistani and Bangladeshi	39	474,000
Asian other including Chinese	32	262,000
Black	26	341,000
Mixed	27	147,000
White	20	6,885,000
White British	21	6,379,000
White other	16	506,000
Other	33	261,000

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity Economic inactivity by ethnicity Summary

This data shows that:

• overall, in 2017, 22% of the working age population (people aged 16 to 64 years) were economically inactive, or around 8.6 million people – a person is economically inactive if they’re out of work and not looking for a job, and the economic inactivity rate is the number of economically inactive people as a percentage of the total working age population
• 39% of people in the Pakistani/Bangladeshi ethnic group were economically inactive, the highest rate out of all ethnic groups
• 16% of people in the Other White ethnic group were economically inactive, the lowest rate out of all ethnic groups

3. Economic inactivity by ethnicity (White and Other ethnic groups)

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2017
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of people aged 16 to 64 years who were economically inactive within the White ethnic group and all other ethnic groups combined (‘Other’)

Ethnicity	%	Total economically inactive
All	22	8,629,000
White	20	6,885,000
Other than White	30	1,732,000

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity Economic inactivity by ethnicity (White and Other ethnic groups) Summary

This data shows that:

• in 2017, 20% of working age people (aged 16 to 64 years) in the White ethnic group were economically inactive, or 6.9 million people
• 30% of working age people from all other ethnic groups combined were economically active, or 1.7 million people

4. Economic inactivity by ethnicity over time

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2004 to 2017
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage of people aged 16 to 64 years who were economically inactive within each ethnic group, over time

Ethnicity	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
All	24	24	23	23	23	23	24	24	23	23	23	22	22	22
Asian	37	37	36	36	35	34	34	N/A*	33	33	32	32	32	31
Indian	27	26	25	26	26	25	24	N/A*	23	24	24	24	23	22
Pakistani and Bangladeshi	49	49	48	48	46	44	44	N/A*	42	41	40	40	39	39
Asian other including Chinese	36	36	34	33	31	32	36	N/A*	34	36	33	32	34	32
Black	31	30	28	28	28	29	28	N/A*	27	26	27	26	25	26
Mixed	29	30	27	28	31	30	28	N/A*	29	26	28	28	28	27
White	23	22	22	22	22	22	23	N/A*	22	22	21	21	21	20
White British	22	22	22	22	22	22	23	N/A*	22	22	22	21	21	21
White other	25	23	21	21	21	21	21	N/A*	20	19	19	17	17	16
Other	38	36	36	36	35	36	35	N/A*	35	35	37	35	34	33

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity Economic inactivity by ethnicity over time Summary

This data shows that:

• between 2004 and 2017, the economic inactivity rate in the Pakistani/Bangladeshi ethnic group fell from 49% to 39%, the biggest decrease out of all ethnic groups – however, the Pakistani/Bangladeshi ethnic group consistently had the highest rate of economic inactivity throughout this period
• the next largest decrease was found in the Other White group, where the economic inactivity rate fell from 25% to 16% during the period studied

5. Economic inactivity by ethnicity and gender

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2017
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of people aged 16 to 64 years who were economically inactive within each ethnic group, by gender

	All		Men		Women
Ethnicity	All %	All Total economically inactive	Men %	Men Total economically inactive	Women %	Women Total economically inactive
All	22	8,629,000	17	3,291,000	27	5,338,000
Asian	31	982,000	20	312,000	42	670,000
Indian	22	247,000	14	82,000	29	165,000
Pakistani and Bangladeshi	39	474,000	23	141,000	56	333,000
Asian other including Chinese	32	262,000	24	89,000	39	173,000
Black	26	341,000	21	120,000	31	221,000
Mixed	27	147,000	25	64,000	29	83,000
White	20	6,885,000	16	2,699,000	25	4,187,000
White British	21	6,379,000	17	2,563,000	25	3,816,000
White other	16	506,000	9	136,000	22	371,000
Other	33	261,000	23	90,000	44	171,000

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity Economic inactivity by ethnicity and gender Summary

This data shows that:

• overall, in 2017, 27% of women and 17% of men were economically inactive; women were more likely to be economically inactive than men in all ethnic groups
• the Mixed group had the highest economic inactivity rate for men (25%), and the Pakistani/Bangladeshi group had the highest rate for women (56%)
• the biggest difference between men and women in economic inactivity was found in the Pakistani/Bangladeshi ethnic group, where 23% of men and 56% of women were economically inactive (a difference of 33 percentage points)

6. Economic inactivity by ethnicity and age group

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2017
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of people aged 16 to 64 years who were economically inactive within each ethnic group, by age group

	16-24		25-49		50-64		All (16-64)
Ethnicity	16-24 %	16-24 Total economically inactive	25-49 %	25-49 Total economically inactive	50-64 %	50-64 Total economically inactive	All (16-64) %	All (16-64) Total economically inactive
All	38	2,634,000	13	2,793,000	27	3,202,000	22	8,629,000
Asian	57	370,000	22	445,000	32	167,000	31	982,000
Indian	49	85,000	13	97,000	28	65,000	22	247,000
Pakistani and Bangladeshi	57	169,000	32	242,000	43	63,000	39	474,000
Asian other including Chinese	65	116,000	22	106,000	27	39,000	32	262,000
Black	56	143,000	19	135,000	21	64,000	26	341,000
Mixed	45	83,000	15	42,000			27	147,000
White	34	1,949,000	12	2,031,000	27	2,905,000	20	6,885,000
White British	34	1,782,000	12	1,804,000	27	2,793,000	21	6,379,000
White other	40	166,000	10	228,000	24	112,000	16	506,000
Other	63	84,000	26	136,000	31	42,000	33	261,000

Data withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity Economic inactivity by ethnicity and age group Summary

This data shows that:

• in 2017, in every ethnic group, people aged 16 to 24 years had the highest economic inactivity rate out of all three age groups – this is likely to reflect high levels of full-time education within this age group
• 65% of people aged 16 to 24 years in the Other Asian group were economically inactive, the highest rate out of all ethnic groups in this age group
• the second highest economic inactivity rate across all ethnic groups was for people aged 50 to 64 years
• among people aged between 25 and 64 years, the Pakistani/Bangladeshi group had the highest economic inactivity rates, at 32% for those aged 25 to 49 years, and 43% for those aged 50 to 64 years
• the White ethnic groups generally had the lowest economic inactivity rates across all age groups; the only exception was among people aged 50 to 64 years, where Black people had the lowest rate

7. Economic inactivity among 16 to 24 year olds over time

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2004 to 2017
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage of people aged 16 to 24 years who were economically inactive within each ethnic group, over time

Ethnicity	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
All	32	32	33	33	34	35	38	37	37	38	39	37	38	38
Asian	53	54	51	54	52	55	58	N/A*	56	57	60	57	60	57
Indian	46	49	44	45	48	51	51	N/A*	46	54	58	54	59	49
Pakistani and Bangladeshi	56	55	52	56	52	54	56	N/A*	56	52	55	53	56	57
Asian other including Chinese	57	60	60	62	59	65	70	N/A*	68	69	69	67	68	65
Black	47	50	48	49	53	52	55	N/A*	53	53	54	56	50	56
Mixed	39	41	38	39	45	47	45	N/A*	42	38	43	46	47	45
White	29	29	30	31	31	32	34	N/A*	34	35	35	34	35	34
White British	29	29	30	31	31	32	34	N/A*	34	34	35	34	35	34
White other	36	30	27	31	30	35	37	N/A*	44	42	41	36	36	40
Other	55	53	53	55	50	60	61	N/A*	58	63	65	59	61	63

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

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

This data shows that:

• between 2004 and 2017, among people aged 16 to 24 years, those in the Other Asian ethnic group consistently had the highest rate of economic inactivity
• people aged 16 to 24 years in the White British and Other White ethnic groups generally had the lowest rates of economic activity in the same period – those from White British group had the lowest rate of economic inactivity in every year except 2006 and 2008, when they had the second lowest rate after those from the Other White group

8. Economic inactivity by ethnicity and area

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2017
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of people aged 16 to 24 years who were economically inactive within each ethnic group, by area

	All		White		Other than White
region	All %	All Total economically active	White %	White Total economically active	Other than White %	Other than White Total economically active
All	22	8,629,000	20	6,885,000	30	1,732,000
East Midlands	22	654,000	21	534,000	34	119,000
East of England	19	721,000	19	628,000	24	93,000
London	22	1,319,000	18	653,000	28	662,000
North East	25	405,000	24	374,000	36	31,000
North West	24	1,053,000	22	878,000	35	175,000
Scotland	23	769,000	22	705,000	36	63,000
South East	19	1,031,000	18	898,000	23	131,000
South West	19	616,000	18	570,000	26	45,000
Wales	24	455,000	23	419,000	37	36,000
West Midlands	24	841,000	21	606,000	35	234,000
Yorkshire and The Humber	23	766,000	21	620,000	37	144,000

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity Economic inactivity by ethnicity and area Summary

This data shows that:

• in 2017, White people had a lower economic inactivity rate than people from all other ethnic groups combined in every region
• the biggest difference in economic inactivity between White people and those from all other ethnic groups combined was found in Yorkshire and the Humber – the economic inactivity rate was 21% for White people and 37% for those from all other ethnic groups combined (a difference of 16 percentage points)
• out of all regions, London, the South East and the South West had the lowest economic inactivity rates for the White group (all at 18%), and the South East and the East had the lowest rates for all other ethnic groups combined, at 23% and 24% respectively

9. Methodology

The Annual Population Survey (APS) is a continuous household survey. Most people are interviewed in person 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 that are in the sample for 4 waves, spread one year apart.

Participants are randomly selected from the Royal Mail Postcode address File (PAF). 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. Individuals 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 achieved sample of approximately 275,000 undergoes weighting which is structured at local authority level and uses age and sex dimensions.

Weighting is used to adjust the results of a survey to make them representative of the population and improve their accuracy For example, a survey which contains 25% females and 75% males will not accurately reflect the views of the general population, which we know is around 50% male and 50% female.

Statisticians rebalance or ‘weight’ the survey results to more accurately represent the general population. This helps to make them more reliable.

Survey weights are usually applied to make sure the survey sample has broadly the same gender, age, ethnic and geographic makeup as the general population.

The Office for National Statistics population estimates and projections are used as the basis for this weighting process.

Confidence intervals:

Confidence intervals for each ethnic group are available if you download the data.

Based on the APS, it is estimated that 20.2% of White people of working age were economically inactive in 2017.

The data from the APS is based on a sample of the population in England, Wales and Scotland, rather than the whole population. The estimate obtained from this sample is a reliable estimate of the percentage of individuals in working age that were economically inactive, but it’s impossible to be 100% certain of the true percentage for the whole population of working age.

It’s 95% certain, however, that somewhere between 19.5% (lower bound of the confidence interval) and 20.9% (upper bound of the confidence interval) of White individuals of working age were economically inactive in 2017. 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 22.3% and 30.5% for the Black ethnic group compared to 19.5% and 20.9% for the White ethnic group in 2017.

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

Percentages are rounded to whole numbers in charts and tables. Download the data to see the percentages rounded to 1 decimal place. Calculations have been made using the unrounded figures.

Quality and methodology information

10. 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.

11. Download the data

Economic inactivity by region - Spreadsheet (csv) 1 MB

This file contains the following variables: measure, year, region, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, sex, age_band, value, confidence_interval, numerator, denominator, samp_size

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

This file contains the following variables: measure, age_band, year, local_authority, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, value, confidence_interval, numerator, denominator, samp_size

Publication release date: 21 September 2018

full page history

1. 21 September 2018 Updated to include new data (for 2017)

From: Office for National Statistics

Previous edition:

1. 26 January 2018

---

Share this page

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn