Labour Market Statistics for 16 to 24 year olds: Scotland and the United Kingdom - July 2023 to June 2024
Statistics from the Annual Population Survey covering the period from July 2023 to June 2024.
Economic Inactivity
Overall
In July 2023 to June 2024, there were an estimated 206,600 economically inactive 16 to 24 year olds in Scotland. This is 2,500 lower than the number of inactive 16 to 24 year olds in July 2022 to June 2023. An estimated 71.0 per cent of inactive 16 to 24 year olds were in full-time education in July 2023 to June 2024.
The estimated inactivity rate was 37.3 per cent in July 2023 to June 2024. This was 0.7 percentage points (pp) lower than a year ago (37.9 per cent) but 2.8 pp higher than in July 2018 to June 2019 (34.5 per cent). July 2018 to June 2019 is the last data point in the July to June series before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the United Kingdom, the estimated inactivity rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 40.9 per cent. This was 1.0 pp higher than a year ago (39.9 per cent) and 2.0 pp higher than in July 2018 to June 2019 (38.9 per cent).
The change since July 2018 to June 2019 for 16 to 24 year olds in the United Kingdom represents a statistically significant change.
Chart 5: The gap between the economic inactivity rate for people aged 16 to 24 in Scotland and the United Kingdom has typically been narrowing over time with the rate for Scotland lower than the rate for the United Kingdom in all years except July 2019 to June 2020
Economic inactivity rate estimates for persons aged 16 to 24, Scotland and the United Kingdom, July 2004 to June 2005 through to July 2023 to June 2024
Source: Annual Population Survey, July to June datasets, ONS
Shaded areas represent 95 percent confidence intervals.
Economic Inactivity by Sex
In July 2023 to June 2024, there were an estimated 102,700 inactive men aged 16 to 24 and 104,000 inactive women aged 16 to 24 in Scotland.
The estimated inactivity rate for 16 to 24 year old men was 36.8 per cent, 3.6 percentage points (pp) lower than a year ago (40.4 per cent) but 3.3 pp higher than in July 2018 to June 2019 (33.5 per cent). While the estimated inactivity rate for 16 to 24 year old women was 37.8 per cent, 2.3 pp higher than a year ago (35.5 per cent) and 2.2 pp higher than in July 2018 to June 2019 (35.6 per cent).
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, July 2004 to June 2005 through to July 2023 to June 2024
Source: Annual Population Survey, July to June 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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