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Publication - Statistics

Labour Market Statistics for 16 to 24 year olds: Scotland and the United Kingdom - October 2022 to September 2023

Published
13 December 2023
Directorate
Chief Economist Directorate
Topic
Economy, Work and skills

Statistics from the Annual Population Survey covering the period from October 2022 to September 2023.

View supporting documents Supporting documents

Unemployment

Overall

In October 2022 to September 2023, an estimated 33,800 people aged 16 to 24 were unemployed in Scotland. This is 2,000 more than the number of unemployed 16 to 24 year olds in October 2021 to September 2022.

The estimated unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 9.7 per cent in October 2022 to September 2023. This was 0.7 percentage points (pp) higher than a year ago (9.0 per cent) and 0.6 pp higher than in October 2018 to September 2019 (9.1 per cent). October 2018 to September 2019 is the last data point in the October to September 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 10.8 per cent. This was 0.4 pp higher than the year before (10.4 per cent) but 0.7 pp lower than in October 2018 to September 2019 (11.4 per cent).

Chart 3: The unemployment rate for people aged 16 to 24 in Scotland has been lower than the United Kingdom since October 2014 to September 2015

Unemployment rate estimates for persons aged 16 to 24, Scotland and the United Kingdom, October 2004 to September 2005 through to October 2022 to September 2023.

Line chart showing unemployment rates for Scotland and the United Kingdom as separate lines.

Source: Annual Population Survey, October to September datasets, ONS

Shaded areas represent 95 percent confidence intervals.

Unemployment by Sex

In October 2022 to September 2023, there were an estimated 19,100 unemployed men aged 16 to 24 and 14,800 unemployed women aged 16 to 24 in Scotland.

The estimated unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year old men was 11.1 per cent, 0.5 percentage points (pp) higher than a year ago (10.5 per cent) and 0.5 pp higher than in October 2018 to September 2019 (10.6 per cent). While the estimated unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year old women was 8.4 per cent, 0.7 pp higher than a year ago (7.6 per cent) and 0.8 pp higher than in October 2018 to September 2019 (7.6 per cent).

Chart 4: The unemployment rate for men aged 16 to 24 typically exceeds the rate for women

Unemployment rate estimates for men and women aged 16 to 24 in Scotland, October 2004 to September 2005 through to October 2022 to September 2023

Line chart showing unemployment rates for men and women in Scotland as separate lines.

Source: Annual Population Survey, October to September 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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