Labour Market Statistics for 16 to 24 year olds: Scotland and the United Kingdom - April 2023 to March 2024
Statistics from the Annual Population Survey covering the period from April 2023 to March 2024.
Economic Inactivity
Overall
In April 2023 to March 2024, there were an estimated 217,100 economically inactive 16 to 24 year olds in Scotland. This is 12,900 higher than the number of inactive 16 to 24 year olds in April 2022 to March 2023. An estimated 71.4 per cent of inactive 16 to 24 year olds were in full-time education in April 2023 to March 2024.
The estimated inactivity rate was 39.2 per cent in April 2023 to March 2024. This was 2.2 percentage points (pp) higher than a year ago (37.1 per cent) and 3.9 pp higher than in April 2018 to March 2019 (35.3 per cent). April 2018 to March 2019 is the last data point in the April to March series before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the United Kingdom as a whole, the estimated inactivity rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 40.3 per cent. This was 0.2 pp higher than a year ago (40.1 per cent) and 1.2 pp higher than in April 2018 to March 2019 (39.0 per cent).
The change since April 2018 to March 2019 for 16 to 24 year olds in both Scotland and the United Kingdom represent statistically significant changes.
Chart 5: The gap between the economic inactivity rate for people aged 16 to 24 in Scotland and the United Kingdom has been narrowing over time with the rate for Scotland lower than the rate for the United Kingdom in all years except April 2019 to March 2020
Economic inactivity rate estimates for persons aged 16 to 24, Scotland and the United Kingdom, April 2004 to March 2005 through to April 2023 to March 2024
Source: Annual Population Survey, April to March datasets, ONS
Shaded areas represent 95 percent confidence intervals.
Economic Inactivity by Sex
In April 2023 to March 2024, there were an estimated 108,200 inactive men aged 16 to 24 and 108,900 inactive women aged 16 to 24 in Scotland.
The estimated inactivity rate for 16 to 24 year old men was 38.9 per cent, the same as a year ago but 6.1 percentage points (pp) higher than in April 2018 to March 2019 (32.8 per cent). While the estimated inactivity rate for 16 to 24 year old women was 39.5 per cent, 4.4 pp higher than a year ago (35.2 per cent) and 1.8 pp higher than in April 2018 to March 2019 (37.8 per cent).
The change since April 2022 to March 2023 for 16 to 24 year old men represents a statistically significant change.
Chart 6: The gap between the economic inactivity rates for men and women aged 16 to 24 has generally been narrowing over time
Economic inactivity rate estimates for men and women aged 16 to 24 in Scotland, April 2004 to March 2005 through to April 2023 to March 2024
Source: Annual Population Survey, April to March datasets, ONS
Shaded areas represent 95 percent confidence intervals.
Contact
For enquiries about this publication please contact:
Labour Market Statistics,
Office of the Chief Economic Adviser
Telephone: 0131 244 6773,
E-mail: LMStats@gov.scot
For general enquiries about Scottish Government statistics please contact:
Office of the Chief Statistician
E-mail: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot
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