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

Unemployment

Overall

In January to December 2022, an estimated 34,300 people aged 16 to 24 were unemployed in Scotland. This is 800 more than the number of unemployed 16 to 24 year olds in 2021.

The estimated unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 9.7 per cent in 2022. This was 0.5 percentage points (pp) lower than a year ago (10.2 per cent) but 1.4 pp higher than in 2019 (8.3 per cent). January to December 2019 is the last data point in this series before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the United Kingdom as a whole, the estimated unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 10.4 per cent. This was 2.1 pp lower than the year before (12.5 per cent) and 0.9 pp lower than in 2019 (11.3 per cent). Both the change on year and change since 2019 represent statistically significant changes.

Chart 4: Unemployment 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

Unemployment by Sex

In January to December 2022, there were an estimated 19,600 unemployed men aged 16 to 24 and 14,600 unemployed women aged 16 to 24 in Scotland.

The estimated unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year old men was 11.4 per cent, 0.4 percentage points (pp) lower than a year ago but 1.5 pp higher than 2019. While the estimated unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year old women was 8.1 per cent, 0.5 pp lower than a year ago but 1.5 pp higher than 2019.

Chart 5: Unemployment 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