Labour Market Statistics for 16 to 24 year olds: Scotland and the United Kingdom - January to December 2024
Statistics from the Annual Population Survey covering the period from January to December 2024.
Part of
Economic Inactivity
In January to December 2024, there were an estimated 214,700 economically inactive 16 to 24 year olds in Scotland. This is 4,800 higher than the number of inactive 16 to 24 year olds in 2023.
The estimated inactivity rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 38.6% in 2024. This was 0.7 percentage points (pp) higher than a year ago (37.9%) and 1.8 pp higher than in 2019 (36.9%). January to December 2019 is the last data point in the January to December series before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the United Kingdom, the estimated inactivity rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 41.6% in 2024. This was 1.8 pp higher than a year ago (39.8%) and 2.6 pp higher than in 2019 (39.0%).
The change over the year and since 2019 for 16 to 24 year olds in the United Kingdom represent statistically significant changes. More details on statistical significance can be found in the Data and Methodology section.
Based on the current data quality rules and data confidence ratings we considered as part of our Quality Assessment of the Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey and Annual Population Survey data for Scotland:
- the economic inactivity estimates for 16 to 24 year olds for both Scotland and the United Kingdom remain robust
- we have high confidence in the economic inactivity estimates for 16 to 24 year olds for both Scotland and the United Kingdom indicating the estimates can be used to draw accurate conclusions. There is substantial trust in the information presented, which is likely to provide a good reflection of reality
Chart 3: The gap between the economic inactivity rate for people aged 16 to 24 in Scotland and the United Kingdom has typically been narrowing over time with the rate for Scotland lower than the rate for the United Kingdom in all years except 2020
Economic inactivity rate estimates for persons aged 16 to 24, Scotland and the United Kingdom, January to December 2004 through to January to December 2024
Source: Annual Population Survey, January to December datasets, ONS
Shaded areas represent 95 percent confidence intervals.
Contact
For enquiries about this publication please contact:
Labour Market Statistics,
Office of the Chief Economic Adviser
Telephone: 0131 244 6773,
E-mail: LMStats@gov.scot
For general enquiries about Scottish Government statistics please contact:
Office of the Chief Statistician
E-mail: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot