Unemployment

Published 3 November 2022

Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• 4% of white people were unemployed in 2021, compared with 8% of people from all other ethnic groups combined

• people from the Bangladeshi and Pakistani (11%), mixed (10%) and black (9%) ethnic groups had the highest unemployment rate out of all ethnic groups

• white people and people from the Indian ethnic group had the lowest unemployment rates out of all ethnic groups (4%)

• in every region of England and Scotland, unemployment rates were lower for white people than for all other ethnic groups combined – the biggest differences were in the 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
• 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 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 the economically active population who were unemployed, by ethnicity

Ethnicity	%	Number of people unemployed
All	4	1,450,200
Asian	7	166,600
Indian	4	45,100
Pakistani, Bangladeshi	11	76,600
Asian Other	7	45,000
Black	9	102,200
Mixed	10	50,100
White	4	1,086,500
White British	4	991,200
White Other	4	95,300
Other	8	43,500

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Unemployment By ethnicity Summary

The data shows that:

• in 2021, 4% of the economically active population (all people aged 16 and over who were employed or unemployed) were unemployed – just under 1.5 million people

• 11% of people in the combined Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic group were unemployed – the highest rate out of all ethnic groups

• 4% of white people and people from the Indian ethnic group were unemployed – the lowest rates of all ethnic groups

4. By ethnicity over time

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2004 to 2021
• 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	2020	2021
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
All	5	5	5	5	6	8	8	8	8	8	6	5	5	4	4	4	5	4
Asian	9	9	10	10	9	11	11		12	12	9	8	7	7	6	6	7	7
Indian	7	7	8	7	7	9	8		10	9	6	7	5	6	4	4	5	4
Pakistani, Bangladeshi	13	13	15	15	15	17	16		17	18	14	12	11	10	8	8	9	11
Asian Other	9	8	8	9	7	9	9		10	9	8	7	6	6	6	6	8	7
Black	13	14	13	13	14	18	16		17	17	15	12	10	9	9	8	11	9
Mixed	12	12	11	12	13	14	15		16	16	13	11	11	7	7	6	8	10
White	4	4	5	5	5	7	7		7	7	6	5	4	4	4	4	4	4
White British	4	4	5	5	5	7	7		7	7	6	5	4	4	4	4	4	4
White Other	6	6	5	5	5	7	6		6	6	6	5	4	4	3	3	5	4
Other	11	11	13	10	11	12	13		14	13	10	9	7	8	8	7	7	8

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 except the white British group, the unemployment rate was lower in 2021 than it was in 2004 – in the white British group, the rate was the same

• the unemployment rate for black people was more than 3 percentage points lower in 2021 than in 2004 – the largest decrease over the period

5. By ethnicity and gender

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2021
• 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	1,450,200	5	789,000	4	661,200
Asian	7	166,600	7	88,700	8	77,900
Indian	4	45,100	4	22,200	5	22,800
Pakistani, Bangladeshi	11	76,600	10	44,800	12	31,800
Asian Other	7	45,000	7	21,700	7	23,300
Black	9	102,200	8	39,000	11	63,100
Mixed	10	50,100	10	25,100	10	25,000
White	4	1,086,500	4	615,600	4	470,900
White British	4	991,200	4	570,400	4	420,800
White Other	4	95,300	4	45,200	4	50,100
Other	8	43,500	7	19,700	10	23,800

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Unemployment By ethnicity and gender Summary

The data shows that:

• in 2021, the unemployment rates for the ‘other’, black and combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups were higher for women than men

• white women (4%) were less likely to be unemployed than women from all other ethnic groups combined (9%) – download the data to see these figures

• white men (4%) were less likely to be unemployed than men from all other ethnic groups combined (7%) – download the data to see these figures

6. By ethnicity (white and other ethnic groups)

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

Percentage and number of the economically active population who were unemployed, by ethnicity (white and other ethnic groups)

Ethnicity	%	Number of people unemployed
All	4	1,450,200
Other Ethnic Groups	8	362,400
White	4	1,086,500

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Unemployment By ethnicity (white and other ethnic groups) Summary

The data shows that:

• in 2021, 4% of white people were unemployed, compared with 8% of people from all other ethnic groups combined

7. By ethnicity and age (white and other ethnic groups)

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

Percentage and number of the economically active population who were unemployed, by ethnicity and age (white and other ethnic groups)

	All		Other Ethnic Groups		White
Age	All %	All Number of people unemployed	Other Ethnic Groups %	Other Ethnic Groups Number of people unemployed	White %	White Number of people unemployed
16-24	13	490,000	22	123,900	11	366,000
25-49	3	619,000	6	180,900	3	436,900
50-64	3	316,700	6	53,200	3	263,500
65+	2	24,500	6	4,500	2	20,000
All	4	1,450,200	8	362,400	4	1,086,500

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Unemployment By ethnicity and age (white and other ethnic groups) 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, 11% of white people were unemployed, compared with 22% 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 6%), 50 to 64 year olds (3% and 6%) and over 65s (2% and 6%)

8. By ethnicity over time (16 to 24 year olds only, white and other ethnic groups)

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2004 to 2021
• 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 ethnic groups)

	All		Other Ethnic Groups		White
Time	All %	All Number of people unemployed	Other Ethnic Groups %	Other Ethnic Groups Number of people unemployed	White %	White Number of people unemployed
2004	12	553,800	24	103,800	11	449,000
2005	13	591,300	23	100,800	12	489,800
2006	14	637,900	23	109,400	13	527,700
2007	14	638,900	24	109,300	13	529,000
2008	15	700,200	26	127,400	14	572,400
2009	19	862,000	29	135,500	18	725,100
2010	20	862,400	31	140,800	18	721,100
2011	21	960,200
2012	21	946,200	33	167,500	20	778,400
2013	20	894,200	35	182,300	18	711,500
2014	17	742,100	27	135,100	16	605,000
2015	14	629,600	24	126,000	13	503,700
2016	13	569,600	23	119,100	12	450,500
2017	12	515,200	20	104,400	11	410,100
2018	12	486,100	18	101,700	11	384,300
2019	11	468,300	19	103,500	10	364,800
2020	14	555,900	24	124,500	12	431,400
2021	13	490,000	22	123,900	11	366,000

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 ethnic groups) Summary

The data shows that:

• in every year between 2004 and 2021, 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 (17 percentage points) – by 2019, the gap had gone down to 11 percentage points

• between 2020 and 2021, the unemployment rate for white 16 to 24 year olds went down from 12% to 11% – the rate for 16 to 24 year olds from all other ethnic groups combined went down from 24% to 22%

• in the period covered by this data, 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 ethnic groups)

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

Percentage and number of the economically active population who were unemployed, by ethnicity and area (white and other ethnic groups)

	All		Other Ethnic Groups		White
Region	All %	All Number of people unemployed	Other Ethnic Groups %	Other Ethnic Groups Number of people unemployed	White %	White Number of people unemployed
All	4	1,450,200	8	362,400	4	1,086,500
East Midlands	4	104,700	8	22,300	4	82,300
East Of England	4	120,900	6	21,200	4	99,600
London	6	283,200	8	140,000	5	142,100
North East	6	74,600	11	6,500	6	68,200
North West	5	163,100	9	31,600	4	131,600
Scotland	4	105,100	6	7,900	4	97,200
South East	4	179,100	6	31,200	4	147,900
South West	3	91,200	5	8,200	3	82,800
Wales	4	62,900	11	7,600	4	55,400
West Midlands	5	145,300	10	53,100	4	92,200
Yorkshire And The Humber	5	120,000	12	32,900	4	87,100

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Unemployment By ethnicity and area (white and other ethnic groups) 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 West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, and Wales had the largest unemployment rate gaps between white people and all other ethnic groups combined (all 6 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 Region - Spreadsheet (csv) 4 MB

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

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

Publication release date: 3 November 2022

full page history

1. 3 November 2022 Updated with Data for 2021

From: Office for National Statistics

Previous editions:

1. 29 January 2021
2. 30 September 2020
3. 7 June 2019
4. 6 April 2018

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