Economic inactivity

Published 3 November 2022

Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• in 2021, 22% of working age people in England, Scotland and Wales were economically inactive – this means they were out of work and not looking for a job

• 21% of white people were economically inactive, compared with 27% of people from all other ethnic groups combined

• the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group had the highest rate of economic inactivity (35%), and the ‘white other’ group had the lowest (15%)

• in every region, white people had a lower rate of economic inactivity than people from all other ethnic groups combined

• in every ethnic group, women were more likely to be economically inactive than men

• the biggest gap between men and women was in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group, where 51% of women and 20% of men were economically inactive

2. Things you need to know

What the data measures

The data measures the percentage of working age people (16 to 64 year olds) who were economically inactive.

A working age person is economically inactive if they are:

• out of work
• not actively looking for work
• not waiting to start a job
• not in full-time education
• caring for their family
• retired

Percentages are rounded to whole numbers.

Not included in the data

The data does not include estimates based on fewer than:

• 30 survey respondents for data covering 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 groups used in the data

The data uses the ethnic groups 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 white British people and all other white people (the ‘white other’ ethnic group). Separate figures are also shown for 3 different Asian ethnic groups (Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi combined, and ‘Asian other’).

Data by ethnicity and area is shown for 2 ethnic groups (white, and all other ethnic groups combined’).

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.

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, age group and sex over time for detailed ethnic groups
• estimates by local authority for white and all other ethnic groups combined
• confidence intervals for each ethnic group – read about how we use confidence intervals
• sample sizes
• estimates rounded to 1 decimal place

3. By ethnicity

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2021
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of 16 to 64 year olds who were economically inactive, by ethnicity

Ethnicity	%	Number of people economically inactive
All	22	8,666,400
Asian	26	833,300
Indian	19	224,700
Pakistani, Bangladeshi	35	392,900
Asian Other	26	215,700
Black	26	372,300
Mixed	29	204,500
White	21	7,039,100
White British	21	6,577,300
White Other	15	461,800
Other	28	204,700

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity By ethnicity Summary

The data shows that:

• 22% of working age people in England, Scotland and Wales were economically inactive in 2021

• 35% 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 ‘white other’ ethnic group were economically inactive – the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups

4. By ethnicity (white and other ethnic groups)

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2021
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of 16 to 64 year olds who were economically inactive, by ethnicity (white and other ethnic groups)

Ethnicity	%	Number of people economically inactive
All	22	8,666,400
Other Ethnic Groups	27	1,614,900
White	21	7,039,100

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity By ethnicity (white and other ethnic groups) Summary

The data shows that:

• 21% of white people were economically inactive in 2021, compared with 27% of people from all other ethnic groups combined

5. By ethnicity over time

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2004 to 2021
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage of 16 to 64 year olds who were economically inactive, by ethnicity over time

Ethnicity	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
All	24	24	23	23	23	23	24	24	23	23	23	22	22	22	22	21	21	22
Asian	37	37	36	36	35	34	34		33	33	32	32	32	31	30	31	27	26
Indian	27	26	25	26	26	25	24		23	24	24	24	23	22	21	21	19	19
Pakistani, Bangladeshi	49	49	48	48	46	44	44		42	41	40	40	39	39	38	39	37	35
Asian Other	36	36	34	33	31	32	36		34	36	33	32	34	32	32	31	26	26
Black	31	30	28	28	28	29	28		27	26	27	26	25	26	27	25	25	26
Mixed	29	30	27	28	31	30	28		29	26	28	28	28	27	28	26	25	29
White	23	22	22	22	22	22	23		22	22	21	21	21	20	20	20	20	21
White British	22	22	22	22	22	22	23		22	22	22	21	21	21	21	20	21	21
White Other	25	23	21	21	21	21	21		20	19	19	17	17	16	15	14	14	15
Other	38	36	36	36	35	36	35		35	35	37	35	34	33	34	32	30	28

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity By ethnicity over time Summary

The data shows that:

• in most ethnic groups, the rate of economic inactivity was lower in 2021 than in 2004

• the biggest decreases were in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group, (down from 49% to 35%) and the ‘Asian other’ ethnic group (down from 36% to 26%)

• in every year from 2004 to 2021, the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group had the highest rate of economic inactivity out of all ethnic groups

6. By ethnicity and gender

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2021
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of 16 to 64 year olds who were economically inactive, 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	8,666,400	18	3,590,600	25	5,075,800
Asian	26	833,300	17	275,000	35	558,300
Indian	19	224,700	13	80,300	25	144,500
Pakistani, Bangladeshi	35	392,900	20	111,900	51	280,900
Asian Other	26	215,700	21	82,800	30	132,900
Black	26	372,300	23	142,100	28	230,300
Mixed	29	204,500	27	90,700	31	113,900
White	21	7,039,100	18	3,001,600	24	4,037,500
White British	21	6,577,300	18	2,827,000	24	3,750,200
White Other	15	461,800	12	174,500	18	287,300
Other	28	204,700	20	73,900	35	130,800

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity By ethnicity and gender Summary

The data shows that:

• 25% of women and 18% of men were economically inactive in 2021

• 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 51% of women and 20% of men were economically inactive

• the highest rate of economic inactivity for women was in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group (51%)

• the highest rate for men was in the mixed ethnic group (27%)

• the lowest rates were in the ‘white other’ ethnic group for both men (12%) and women (18%)

7. By ethnicity and age

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2021
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of 16 to 64 year olds who were economically inactive, by ethnicity and age

	16-24		25-49		50-64		All
Ethnicity	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 %	All Number of people economically inactive
All	41	2,709,400	12	2,589,600	27	3,367,400	22	8,666,400
Asian	55	321,900	18	371,200	26	140,200	26	833,300
Indian	59	92,900	11	86,600	20	45,200	19	224,700
Pakistani, Bangladeshi	53	146,400	28	189,200	37	57,300	35	392,900
Asian Other	53	82,500	18	95,500	23	37,700	26	215,700
Black	56	164,100	17	130,100	21	78,100	26	372,300
Mixed	53	129,200	16	56,000	20	19,300	29	204,500
White	38	2,031,400	11	1,923,200	27	3,084,500	21	7,039,100
White British	37	1,892,300	11	1,712,600	27	2,972,300	21	6,577,300
White Other	46	139,100	10	210,500	20	112,200	15	461,800
Other	56	61,300	21	101,000	29	42,400	28	204,700

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity By ethnicity and age Summary

The data shows that:

• 41% of all 16 to 24 year olds were economically inactive in 2021, compared with 12% of 25 to 49 year olds, and 27% of 50 to 64 year olds

• in every ethnic group, 16 to 24 year olds had the highest rate of economic inactivity out of the 3 age groups

• for 16 to 24 year olds, the highest rate of economic inactivity was in the Indian ethnic group (59%) – the lowest was in the white British ethnic group (37%)

• for 25 to 49 year olds, the highest rate of economic inactivity was in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group (28%) – the lowest was in the ‘white other’ ethnic group (10%)

• for 50 to 64 year olds, the highest rate of economic inactivity was in the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group (37%) – the lowest was in the Indian and ‘white other’ ethnic groups (20%)

8. By ethnicity over time (16 to 24 year olds only)

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2004 to 2021
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage of 16 to 24 year olds who were economically inactive, by ethnicity over time

Ethnicity	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
All	32	32	33	33	34	35	38	37	37	38	39	37	38	38	39	39	39	41
Asian	53	54	51	54	52	55	58		56	57	60	57	60	58	56	58	56	55
Indian	46	49	44	45	48	51	51		46	54	58	54	59	49	52	56	54	59
Pakistani, Bangladeshi	56	55	52	56	52	54	56		56	52	55	53	56	58	53	56	59	53
Asian Other	57	60	60	62	59	65	70		68	69	69	67	68	65	65	64	55	53
Black	47	50	48	49	53	52	55		53	53	54	56	50	56	57	53	55	56
Mixed	39	41	38	39	45	47	45		42	38	43	46	48	45	46	48	46	53
White	29	29	30	31	31	32	34		34	35	35	34	35	35	35	35	36	38
White British	29	29	30	31	31	32	34		34	34	35	34	35	34	35	35	36	37
White Other	36	30	27	31	30	35	37		44	42	41	36	36	40	40	35	39	46
Other	55	53	53	55	50	60	61		58	63	65	59	61	63	64	63	58	56

Download table data (CSV) Source data (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.

The data shows that:

• between 2004 and 2021, the rate of economic inactivity for all 16 to 24 year olds went up from 32% to 41%

• the biggest increase was in the mixed ethnic group (from 39% to 53%)

• the rate also increased for the white British (from 29% to 37%) and ‘white other’ (from 36% to 46%) ethnic groups

• there were also large increases for the black and Indian ethnic groups, but these were not meaningful

9. By ethnicity and area

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2021
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage of 16 to 64 year olds who were economically inactive, by ethnicity and area

	All		Other Ethnic Groups		White
Region	All %	All Number of people economically inactive	Other Ethnic Groups %	Other Ethnic Groups Number of people economically inactive	White %	White Number of people economically inactive
All	22	8,666,400	27	1,614,900	21	7,039,100
East Midlands	22	657,800	28	102,700	22	554,200
East Of England	19	716,500	23	101,400	18	614,800
London	21	1,263,000	26	622,500	17	638,500
North East	25	409,500	36	33,200	25	376,300
North West	24	1,051,300	32	169,700	22	881,300
Scotland	24	814,800	34	62,100	23	750,200
South East	19	1,070,800	23	140,300	19	927,200
South West	20	665,700	21	39,900	20	624,400
Wales	24	448,800	27	24,800	24	423,700
West Midlands	22	808,000	27	200,500	21	606,900
Yorkshire And The Humber	23	760,000	31	117,800	22	641,400

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Economic inactivity By ethnicity and area Summary

The data shows that:

• white people had a lower rate of economic inactivity than people from all other ethnic groups combined in every region except the South West, the South East, and Wales, where the differences between the 2 groups were too small to be meaningful

• the gap was biggest in the North East, where 25% of white people and 36% of people from all other ethnic groups combined were economically inactive

• people from the Indian ethnic group in the South West of England had the lowest rate of economic inactivity out of all ethnic groups and regions (8%)

• the highest rate of economic inactivity was for people from the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group in the North West (45%)

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) 3 MB

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

Economic Inactivity By Local Authority - Spreadsheet (csv) 2 MB

This file contains the following: Measure, Measure_type, Ethnicity, Ethnicity_type, Time, Time_type, Local_authority, Age, Value, Confidence_interval, Numerator, Denominator, Sample_size

Publication release date: 3 November 2022

full page history

1. 3 November 2022 Updated with the latest available data for 2021.

From: Office for National Statistics

Previous editions:

1. 29 January 2021
2. 23 January 2020
3. 20 May 2019
4. 26 January 2018

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