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Economic inactivity

The share of people aged 16 to 64 who are neither working nor looking for work: students, carers, the long-term sick and the retired.

UK

Jun 2026

20.9%

Economic inactivity, UK, Feb 1971 to Jun 2026
PeriodEconomic inactivity (%)
1 Jul 202121.5%
1 Aug 202121.4%
1 Sept 202121.6%
1 Oct 202121.6%
1 Nov 202121.6%
1 Dec 202121.7%
1 Jan 202221.8%
1 Feb 202221.9%
1 Mar 202221.8%
1 Apr 202221.7%
1 May 202221.9%
1 Jun 202222.2%
1 Jul 202222.1%
1 Aug 202222.1%
1 Sept 202221.9%
1 Oct 202221.9%
1 Nov 202221.7%
1 Dec 202221.7%
1 Jan 202321.7%
1 Feb 202321.5%
1 Mar 202321.4%
1 Apr 202321.4%
1 May 202321.4%
1 Jun 202321.6%
1 Jul 202321.9%
1 Aug 202321.8%
1 Sept 202321.9%
1 Oct 202322.0%
1 Nov 202322.0%
1 Dec 202322.0%
1 Jan 202422.1%
1 Feb 202422.0%
1 Mar 202422.1%
1 Apr 202422.1%
1 May 202422.1%
1 Jun 202421.9%
1 Jul 202421.8%
1 Aug 202421.6%
1 Sept 202421.7%
1 Oct 202421.6%
1 Nov 202421.5%
1 Dec 202421.5%
1 Jan 202521.3%
1 Feb 202521.3%
1 Mar 202521.2%
1 Apr 202521.0%
1 May 202520.9%
1 Jun 202521.0%
1 Jul 202521.0%
1 Aug 202520.9%
1 Sept 202521.0%
1 Oct 202520.8%
1 Nov 202520.9%
1 Dec 202520.7%
1 Jan 202621.0%
1 Feb 202620.9%
1 Mar 202621.0%
1 Apr 202620.9%
1 May 202620.9%
1 Jun 202620.9%

How this is measured

Series
LF2S
Covers
UK
Published
Rolling 3 months
History
Feb 1971 to Jun 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.

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Where this data comes from