Labour Market Statistics for Scotland by Ethnicity, January to December 2021

Key Points

The data provided in this publication can be found in supporting tables. Where possible the tables provide data for each individual year and include additional metrics by ethnicity not commented on in this publication.

Over the year to January to December 2021, for both the white and minority ethnic groups:

• the employment rate decreased
• the unemployment rate decreased
• the economic inactivity rate increased

The difference between the employment rates of the white groups and minority ethnic groups is the ethnicity employment rate gap. In the period January to December 2021, the ethnicity employment rate gap:

• was larger for women compared to men (23.1 percentage points (pp) and -1.5 pp respectively)
• was similar for all ages except 50 to 64 year olds where the gap is much smaller than for the other age groups and shows a differing pattern (16 to 24 year olds: 19.6 pp; 25 to 34 year olds: 18.9 pp; 35 to 49 year olds: 17.9 pp; and 50 to 64 year olds: -8.4 pp)
  The gap for 16 to 24 year olds is based on a minority ethnic employment rate which is from a small sample size and should be used with caution.
• was larger for non-disabled people compared to disabled people (15.9 pp and 6.4 pp respectively)

In January to December 2021, when compared to the white groups, minority ethnic groups were more likely to be:

• self-employed and other
• not in contractually secure work
• underemployed

In 2019, the ethnicity pay gap was 10.3 per cent, smaller than in 2011 (11.3 per cent) but slightly larger than the year before (10.2 per cent in 2018).