Labour Market Statistics for 16 to 24 year olds: Scotland and the United Kingdom – January to December 2022

Economic Inactivity

Overall

In January to December 2022, there were an estimated 197,200 economically inactive 16 to 24 year olds in Scotland. This is 21,500 lower than the number of inactive 16 to 24 year olds in 2021. Around three quarters (75.1 per cent) of inactive 16 to 24 year olds were estimated to be in full-time education in 2022.

The estimated inactivity rate was 35.8 per cent in 2022. This was 4.1 percentage points (pp) lower than a year ago (39.9 per cent) and 1.0 pp lower than in 2019 (36.9 per cent). January to December 2019 is the last data point in this series before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The change on year represents a statistically significant change.

For the United Kingdom as a whole, the estimated inactivity rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 40.1 per cent. This was 1.3 pp lower than a year ago (41.4 per cent) but 1.1 pp higher than 2019 (39.0 per cent). Both the change over the year and since 2019 represent statistically significant changes.

Chart 6: Economic inactivity rate of people aged 16 to 24; Scotland and the United Kingdom; 2004 to 2022

Source: Annual Population Survey, Jan-Dec datasets, ONS

Note: Shaded areas represent 95 per cent confidence intervals

Economic Inactivity by Sex

In January to December 2022, there were an estimated 104,700 inactive men aged 16 to 24 and 92,500 inactive women aged 16 to 24 in Scotland.

The estimated inactivity rate for 16 to 24 year old men was 37.8 per cent, 2.3 percentage points (pp) lower than a year ago but 1.5 pp higher than 2019. While the estimated inactivity rate for 16 to 24 year old women was 33.8 per cent, 5.8 pp lower than a year ago and 3.6 pp lower than 2019.

The change on year for women aged 16 to 24 represents a statistically significant change.

Chart 7: Economic inactivity rate of people aged 16 to 24 by Sex; Scotland; 2004 to 2022

Source: Annual Population Survey, Jan-Dec datasets, ONS

Note: Shaded areas represent 95 per cent confidence intervals