Unemployment

Published 29 January 2021

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Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• 4% of White people were unemployed in 2019, compared with 7% of people from all other ethnic groups combined
• Black, and Bangladeshi and Pakistani people had the highest unemployment rate out of all ethnic groups (8%)
• the White Other ethnic group had the lowest unemployment rate out of all ethnic groups (3%)
• in every region in England and in Scotland, unemployment rates were lower for White people than for all other ethnic groups combined, with the biggest differences in West Midlands, the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber
• in Wales, unemployment rates were the same for White people and people in all other ethnic groups combined (4%)

2. Things you need to know

What the data measures

The data measures the number and percentage of people in England, Scotland and Wales who are unemployed.

Percentages are worked out using the economically active population (people aged 16 and over who are employed or unemployed).

Someone is classed as unemployed if they:

• are out of work
• are available to start work in the next 2 weeks
• have either been looking for work in the past 4 weeks or have found a job and are waiting to start

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 broken down 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 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 White British people and all other White people (‘White Other’ ethnic group). Separate figures are also shown for 3 different Asian ethnic groups (Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi combined, and Asian Other).

Some data is shown only for 2 ethnic groups:

• White – all White ethnic groups, including White minorities
• Other than White – all other ethnic groups

This is to make sure that estimates are reliable.

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
• by local authority for White and Other than White groups
• 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: 2019
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of the economically active population who were unemployed, by ethnicity

Ethnicity	%	Number of people unemployed
All	4	1,287,300
Asian	6	135,700
Indian	4	37,000
Pakistani/Bangladeshi	8	64,000
Asian Other	6	34,700
Black	8	87,400
Mixed	6	25,000
White	4	996,900
White British	4	911,800
White Other	3	85,200
Other	7	41,800

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Unemployment By ethnicity Summary

The data shows that:

• in 2019, 4% of the economically active population (all people aged 16 and over who were employed or unemployed) were unemployed – just under 1.3 million people
• 8% of Black, and Bangladeshi and Pakistani people were unemployed – the highest rate of all ethnic groups
• 3% of the White Other ethnic group were unemployed – the lowest rate of all ethnic groups

4. By ethnicity over time

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2004 to 2019
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage of the economically active population who were unemployed, by ethnicity over time

Ethnicity	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
All	5	5	5	5	6	8	8	8	8	8	6	5	5	4	4	4
Asian	9	9	10	10	9	11	11		12	12	9	8	7	7	6	6
Indian	7	7	8	7	7	9	8		10	9	6	7	5	6	4	4
Pakistani, Bangladeshi	13	13	15	15	15	17	16		17	18	14	12	11	10	8	8
Asian Other	9	8	8	9	7	9	9		10	9	8	7	6	6	6	6
Black	13	14	13	13	14	18	16		17	17	15	12	10	9	9	8
Mixed	12	12	11	12	13	14	15		16	16	13	11	11	7	7	6
White	4	4	5	5	5	7	7		7	7	6	5	4	4	4	4
White British	4	4	5	5	5	7	7		7	7	6	5	4	4	4	4
White Other	6	6	5	5	5	7	6		6	6	6	5	4	4	3	3
Other	11	11	13	10	11	12	13		14	13	10	9	7	8	8	7

Data not collected

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Unemployment By ethnicity over time Summary

The data shows that:

• in every ethnic group, the unemployment rate was lower in 2019 than it was in 2004
• the unemployment rates for the Mixed ethnic group, the Black ethnic group and the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi group were more than 5 percentage points lower in 2019 than in 2004, the largest decreases over the period

5. By ethnicity and gender

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2019
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of the economically active population who were unemployed, by ethnicity and gender

	All		Men		Women
Ethnicity	All %	All Number of people unemployed	Men %	Men Number of people unemployed	Women %	Women Number of people unemployed
All	4	1,287,300	4	716,700	4	570,700
Asian	6	135,700	5	71,800	7	63,900
Indian	4	37,000	4	20,900	4	16,000
Pakistani, Bangladeshi	8	64,000	7	34,000	11	30,000
Asian Other	6	34,700	6	16,800	6	17,900
Black	8	87,400	9	49,400	7	38,000
Mixed	6	25,000	7	13,400	6	11,700
White	4	996,900	4	564,200	3	432,800
White British	4	911,800	4	528,100	3	383,700
White Other	3	85,200	3	36,100	4	49,100
Other	7	41,800	6	17,700	10	24,100

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Unemployment By ethnicity and gender Summary

The data shows that:

• in 2019, the unemployment rates for the Other, White Other and combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups were higher for women than men
• White women (3%) were less likely to be unemployed than women from all other ethnic groups combined (7%) – [download the data] to see these figures
• White men (4%) were less likely to be unemployed than men from all other ethnic groups combined (6%) – download the data to see these figures

6. By ethnicity (White and Other than White)

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2019
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of the economically active population who were unemployed, by ethnicity (White and Other than White)

Ethnicity	%	Number of people unemployed
All	4	1,287,300
White	4	996,900
Other than White	7	289,900

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Unemployment By ethnicity (White and Other than White) Summary

The data shows that:

• in 2019, 4% of White people were unemployed, compared with 7% of people from all other ethnic groups combined (shown here as ‘Other than White’)

7. By ethnicity and age (White and Other than White)

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2019
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of the economically active population who were unemployed, by ethnicity and age (White and Other than White)

	All		White		Other than White
Age	All %	All Number of people unemployed	White %	White Number of people unemployed	Other than White %	Other than White Number of people unemployed
All	4	1,287,300	4	996,900	7	289,900
16-24	11	468,300	10	364,800	19	103,500
25-49	3	548,000	3	398,500	5	149,300
50-64	3	251,300	3	216,100	4	35,100
65+	2	19,700	1	17,500	3	1,900

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Unemployment By ethnicity and age (White and Other than White) Summary

The data shows that:

• in every age group, White people had a lower unemployment rate than people from all other ethnic groups combined
• 16 to 24 year olds were more likely to be unemployed than any other age group, both for White people and all other ethnic groups combined
• among 16 to 24 year olds, 10% of White people were unemployed, compared with 19% of people from all other ethnic groups combined – the largest gap of any age group
• White people also had lower unemployment rates than people from all other ethnic groups combined among 25 to 49 year olds (3% and 5%), 50 to 64 year olds (3% and 4%) and over 65s (1% and 3%)

8. By ethnicity over time (16 to 24 year olds only, White and Other than White)

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2004 to 2019
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of economically active 16 to 24 year olds who were unemployed, by ethnicity over time (White and Other than White)

	All		White		Other than White
Time	All %	All Number of people unemployed	White %	White Number of people unemployed	Other than White %	Other than White Number of people unemployed
2004	12	553,800	11	449,000	24	103,800
2005	13	591,300	12	489,800	23	100,800
2006	14	637,900	13	527,700	23	109,400
2007	14	638,900	13	529,000	24	109,300
2008	15	700,200	14	572,400	26	127,400
2009	19	862,000	18	725,100	29	135,500
2010	20	862,400	18	721,100	31	140,800
2011	21	960,200
2012	21	946,200	20	778,400	33	167,500
2013	20	894,200	18	711,500	35	182,300
2014	17	742,100	16	605,000	27	135,100
2015	14	629,600	13	503,700	24	126,000
2016	13	569,600	12	450,500	23	119,100
2017	12	515,200	11	410,100	20	104,400
2018	12	486,100	11	384,300	18	101,700
2019	11	468,300	10	364,800	19	103,500

Data not collected

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Unemployment By ethnicity over time (16 to 24 year olds only, White and Other than White) Summary

The data shows that:

• in every year between 2004 and 2019, White people aged 16 to 24 had a lower unemployment rate than people from all other ethnic groups combined
• 2013 saw the biggest difference in the rate between White 16 to 24 year olds and those from all other ethnic groups combined, at 17 percentage points – by 2019, the gap had reduced to 7 percentage points
• between 2018 and 2019, the unemployment rate for White 16 to 24 year olds went down from 11% to 10% – the rate for 16 to 24 year olds from all other ethnic groups combined went up from 18% to 19%
• the highest unemployment rate for White 16 to 24 year olds was 20% (in 2012)
• the highest unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds from all other ethnic groups combined was 35% (in 2013)

9. By ethnicity and area (White and Other than White)

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2019
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of the economically active population who were unemployed, by ethnicity and area (White and Other than White)

	All		White		Other than White
Region	All %	All Number of people unemployed	White %	White Number of people unemployed	Other than White %	Other than White Number of people unemployed
All	4	1,287,300	4	996,900	7	289,900
East Midlands	4	91,600	3	74,300	6	17,000
East of England	3	102,900	3	88,300	5	14,600
London	5	224,400	3	107,700	7	116,400
North East	6	73,300	6	67,200	11	6,200
North West	4	147,300	4	122,400	7	24,900
Scotland	4	95,800	3	87,300	7	8,600
South East	3	144,500	3	125,100	4	19,400
South West	3	87,900	3	78,100	7	9,800
Wales	4	61,800	4	58,400	4	3,400
West Midlands	5	138,800	4	92,900	9	45,900
Yorkshire and The Humber	4	118,900	4	95,200	9	23,700

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Unemployment By ethnicity and area (White and Other than White) Summary

The data shows that:

• in almost all regions, White people were less likely to be unemployed than people from all other ethnic groups combined
• the exception was in Wales, where the unemployment rate was the same for both ethnic groups (4%)
• the North East, West Midlands, and Yorkshire and the Humber had the largest unemployment rate gaps between White people and all other ethnic groups combined (all 5 percentage points or more)

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

Unemployment by local authority - Spreadsheet (csv) 2 MB

This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, local authority, value, confidence interval, numerator, denominator, sample size

Unemployment by region - Spreadsheet (csv) 4 MB

This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, sex, age group, region, value, confidence interval, numerator, denominator, sample size

Publication release date: 29 January 2021

full page history

1. 29 January 2021 Updated with the latest available data (for 2019).

From: Office for National Statistics

Previous editions:

1. 30 September 2020
2. 7 June 2019
3. 6 April 2018

This page replaces 1 older page:

1. Length of time spent in unemployment

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