Back to Economy and work

Claimant count

How many people are claiming unemployment-related benefits. Rules about who has to claim have changed many times, so this is not a measure of unemployment.

UK

Aug 2026

1,691,500

Claimant count, UK, Jan 1971 to Aug 2026
PeriodClaimant count (people)
1 Sept 20212,053,400
1 Oct 20211,985,900
1 Nov 20211,909,500
1 Dec 20211,840,300
1 Jan 20221,797,300
1 Feb 20221,743,500
1 Mar 20221,674,000
1 Apr 20221,596,700
1 May 20221,576,800
1 Jun 20221,554,100
1 Jul 20221,525,000
1 Aug 20221,521,200
1 Sept 20221,520,900
1 Oct 20221,509,900
1 Nov 20221,522,400
1 Dec 20221,536,600
1 Jan 20231,517,500
1 Feb 20231,494,800
1 Mar 20231,523,900
1 Apr 20231,567,300
1 May 20231,532,500
1 Jun 20231,536,800
1 Jul 20231,545,600
1 Aug 20231,530,900
1 Sept 20231,531,700
1 Oct 20231,539,000
1 Nov 20231,551,100
1 Dec 20231,563,200
1 Jan 20241,566,400
1 Feb 20241,562,900
1 Mar 20241,578,400
1 Apr 20241,584,200
1 May 20241,612,600
1 Jun 20241,638,600
1 Jul 20241,776,300
1 Aug 20241,771,300
1 Sept 20241,772,500
1 Oct 20241,764,000
1 Nov 20241,742,800
1 Dec 20241,724,300
1 Jan 20251,714,600
1 Feb 20251,714,900
1 Mar 20251,713,600
1 Apr 20251,702,100
1 May 20251,699,400
1 Jun 20251,694,400
1 Jul 20251,667,900
1 Aug 20251,662,400
1 Sept 20251,658,700
1 Oct 20251,657,000
1 Nov 20251,652,900
1 Dec 20251,650,400
1 Jan 20261,650,300
1 Feb 20261,667,400
1 Mar 20261,672,400
1 Apr 20261,680,600
1 May 20261,681,900
1 Jun 20261,675,500
1 Jul 20261,663,700
1 Aug 20261,691,500
Counts people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance plus those claiming Universal Credit who are required to seek work. Policy changes have repeatedly altered who has to claim, so this is not a measure of unemployment and does not track it closely.

How this is measured

Series
BCJD
Covers
UK
Published
Monthly
History
Jan 1971 to Aug 2026
Last published
14 Sep 2026
Next release
20 Oct 2026

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data reproduced without endorsement. TrackBritain is not affiliated with the Office for National Statistics.

Related trackers

Where this data comes from