The areas of the UK with the highest and lowest percentage of economically inactive people

Figures from The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have recently identified that there were 1.42 million unemployed people in the UK, from December 2017 to February 2018. This represents the number of people who are available to work and seeking employment. And to put the figures into context, over the course of 2017, there were almost 9 million economically inactive people in the UK. Simultaneously, there were over 1.30 million economically inactive people in London alone over the course of 2017.

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As a result, Turnerlittle.com sought to investigate the regions in the UK and the London boroughs with the highest and lowest percentage of economically inactive people, by utilising data from a recent ONS report, entitled UK Labour Market: April 2018.

ONS defines ‘economically inactive’ as someone who does not work, not seeking work, or unavailable to work.

Turner Little extracted figures for those classified as ‘economically inactive’, covering data collected from January 2017 to December 2017. The figures represent the number of people who could work, according to the working age of 16-64 per region, and the percentage of those who are economically inactive

Turner Little has exposed the areas of the UK with the highest number of economically inactive people. They are as following:

Northern Ireland (27.7%), North East (24.6%), Wales (24%), West Midlands (23.6%) and North West (23.5%).

On the other end of the scale, the areas with the least number of economically inactive people are as following:

East Midlands (22.4%), London (21.8%), East (19.2%), South East (18.6) and South West (18.6%).

When it comes to the capital, these are the London boroughs with the highest number of economically inactive people:

City of London (35%), Tower Hamlets (31.2%), Westminster (29.4%), Camden (28.9%) and Newham (26.7%).

Simmultaniously, the London boroughs with the least number of economically inactive people are as following:

Harrow (18.1%), Sutton (15.9%), Southwark (15.4%), Lambeth (14.9%) and Lewisham (13.2%).

James Turner, managing director of Turnerlittle.com comments:

“There are plenty of reasons why a person can be economically inactive; if you are a student or you are in a situation where you must look after someone who is dependent, to sickness related issues or even the fact that individuals just prefer not to work.

Although the figures show a slight decrease in the number of unemployed people overall, the figures remain quite high, and long-term economic inactivity will take its toll on tax revenues which means there is less money to be spent on public services such as the NHS or education.

Simultaneously, long-term unemployment could have a negative effect on an individual’s mental and physical health. And as time goes on, the ability to find work, or be accepted into employment continues to diminish.”