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Economic inactivity rate

Proportion of working age population that are not active in labour market

Labour Market Poverty and deprivation
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Economic inactivity rate

In the April 2023 to March 2024 period, among those aged 16 to 64 in the North East combined authority area:

  • The economic inactivity rate was 25.2%
  • this was lower than in both of the two previous 12 month periods but higher than in the seven prior to that
  • the rate was 4.1 percentage points (pp) higher than that of England excluding London but the gap was narrower than a year earlier
  • the North East rate was the fourth highest among the nine combined authority (CA) areas in the north and midlands
  • at local authority level, South Tyneside had the highest rate, with County Durham having the lowest
  • at constituency level, the highest North East rate was in South Shields, with the lowest in City of Durham.

Economic inactivity by sex and age

In the North East in the Apr 23-Mar 24 period:

  • The female economic inactivity rate was 5.9 percentage points (pp) higher than the female rate
  • this gap was the same as a year earlier but narrower than in every other year in the time series back to 2004 
  • the female rate was highest among 16 to 24 year-olds but the male rate was highest for the 50 to 64 age group
  • both rates were lowest among those aged 35 to 49
  • the North East male 16 to 24 rate was lower than the England excluding London equivalents but the seven other rates by sex and age were all higher in the North East
  • in the latest year, there were increases in North East inactivity among males and females aged 25 to 34 and among males aged 50 to 64
  • inactivity decreased in the latest year among the other five sex and age group combinations, with the largest decrease among males aged 16 to24.

Reasons for economic inactivity

In the North East in the Apr 23-Mar 24 period:

  • Almost 37% of working age inactivity was due to long-term or temporary sickness, compared to just under 30% in England excluding London
  • this was equivalent to 9.2% of the total working age population, compared to 6.3% in England excluding London
  • about 5.0% of the North East working age population were inactive due to study, a further 4.5% cited looking after family or home as the main reason and 3.9% cited retirement
  • among North East local authority areas, over 12% of the South Tyneside working age population were economically inactive due to sickness
  • Newcastle, South Tyneside and Northumberland had, respectively, the highest percentages inactive due to study, looking after family or home and retirement
  • the number of North East working age people inactive due to sickness was at its highest level since 2005-06
  • working age inactivity in the North East due to study had decreased compared to a year earlier, and was at its second lowest annual level since 2006-07
  • North East males were more likely than females to be inactive and cite sickness as a reason.  North East females were more likely to be inactive and cite any of the other reasons.

About the data

Economic inactivity measures the number of people who are not in work or actively seeking employment. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) headline rate is inactivity epressed as a percentage of 16 to 64 year old residents. Despite changes in the state pension age, this age group continues to be used as a proxy for the working age group, partly to allow for international comparisons and to provide a consistent time series.

Economic inactivity is based on an internationally agreed definition used in official UK statistics. Someone who is economically inactive on the survey date is without a job, has not actively sought work in the previous four weeks or is unavailable to start work in the following two weeks.  The ONS survey asks economically inactive people whether or not they want a job, even though they have not recently actively sought one.

The latest economic inactivity rate is based on survey data from throughout the 12 month period of April 2023 to March 2024. The data is updated each quarter, often with retrospective updates of perviously released information. ONS advice is to compare the latest rate with that of the previous non-overlapping 12 month period.

Individuals can be economically inactive for a range of reasons. These include being in education; having health issues or disabilities that prevent them from work; having caring responsibilities; or being retired. When surveyed, respondents are asked for the main reason that they are not working and some cite a reason other than these.