Scotland's Labour Market Insights: April 2025

People in work

Employment rate (LFS)

The employment rate (the proportion of people aged 16 to 64 in work) in Scotland based on the ONS Labour Force Survey was estimated at 74.3% in December 2024 to February 2025. Scotland's employment rate was below the UK rate of 75.1%.

Employment rate by sex (APS)

The employment rate for men in Scotland has consistently been above the employment rate for women in Scotland, however the gap has narrowed in recent years.

Figure 1: The employment rate for women in Scotland has typically been increasing over time, from 67.7% in January to December 2004 to 72.1% in January to December 2024.

Employment rates for persons aged 16 to 64 by sex, Scotland and the UK, year ending December 2004 to year ending December 2024

Source: Annual Population Survey, January to December datasets, ONS 

Shaded areas represent 95% confidence intervals around the estimates.

Employment rate by age (APS)

Employment in Scotland varies by age group. As may be expected, younger and older age groups have lower employment rates.

The employment rate for 16 to 24 year olds has been consistently lower than the employment rate for any other age group since January to December 2006. This is due to higher numbers of people aged 16 to 24 in education.

Figure 2: Employment rate for those aged 16 to 24 in Scotland has been lower than any other age group since January to December 2006

Employment rates for persons aged 16 to 64 by age group, Scotland, year ending December 2004 to year ending December 2024

Source: Annual Population Survey, January to December datasets, ONS

Shaded areas represent 95% confidence intervals around the estimates.

Employment rate by disability (APS)

We define disability based on the Equality Act 2010. Level and rate estimates for employment by disability are all based on those aged 16 to 64 years. There is more information in the Glossary section.

The employment rate for disabled people has been consistently lower than the employment rate for non-disabled people. The employment rate for disabled people aged 16 to 64 was estimated at 51.7% in January to December 2024. This was significantly lower than the employment rate for non-disabled people (83.0%).

The disability employment rate gap is the difference between the employment rates for disabled and non-disabled people aged 16 to 64. It is calculated as the non-disabled employment rate minus disabled employment rate.

The estimated disability employment rate gap has typically decreased from 37.4 percentage points (pp) in January to December 2016 to 31.3 pp in January to December 2024.

Figure 3: The employment rate for disabled people aged 16 to 64 has continually been lower than the employment rate for non-disabled people, with the gap generally decreasing over time

Employment rates for persons aged 16 to 64 by disability, Scotland, year ending December 2014 to year ending December 2024

Source: Annual Population Survey, January to December datasets, ONS

Shaded areas represent 95% confidence intervals around the estimates.

Employment rate by ethnicity (APS)

Respondents are asked questions about their ethnicity in the labour force survey interview. "Minority Ethnic" describes all ethnic groups excluding those who answered "White" to the first question. There is more information in the Glossary section.

There is likely to be variation between the individual ethnic groups included within the combined 'Minority ethnic' group which should be noted.

The employment rate for minority ethnic groups has been consistently lower than the employment rate for white groups. The employment rate for minority ethnic groups aged 16 to 64 was estimated at 64.9% in January to December 2024 compared to 75.2% for white groups.

Due to minority ethnic groups being a smaller group within the Scottish population, there is more variability in the employment rate estimates for minority ethnic groups than for white groups.

The minority ethnic employment rate gap is the difference between the employment rates for minority ethnic groups and white groups aged 16 to 64. It is calculated as the employment rate for white groups minus employment rate for minority ethnic groups.

In 2024, the estimated gap between the employment rate for white groups compared with minority ethnic groups was 10.3 percentage points (pp).

Figure 4: The employment rate for minority ethnic groups aged 16 to 64 has continually been lower than the employment rate for white groups

Employment rates for persons aged 16 to 64 by ethnicity, Scotland, year ending December 2011 to year ending December 2024

Source: Annual Population Survey, January to December datasets, ONS

Shaded areas represent 95% confidence intervals around the estimates.

Payrolled Employees (HMRC PAYE RTI)

This information is based on monthly estimates of paid employees and their pay from HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) data.

Early seasonally adjusted estimates for March 2025 indicate that there were 2.45 million payrolled employees in Scotland, a decrease of 0.4% (-11,000) compared with March 2024.  

Payrolled employees by age (HMRC PAYE RTI)

The latest available HMRC data published in April 2025 shows that payrolled employee growth varies by age. 

Of the 2.45 million payrolled employees in Scotland in March 2025, 32.3% were aged 35 to 49 and 28.8% were aged 50 to 64.

The 35 to 49 age group saw the largest increase in payrolled employees over the year to March 2025 (up 6,000). The 50 to 64 age group saw the largest decrease over this period (down 7,000).

The 65 and over age group saw the largest percentage increase over the year (up 3.9%). The under 25 age groups saw the largest percentage decreases over the year (down 5.3% for the under 18 age group and down 2.0% for the 18-24 age group).

Figure 5: The 35 to 49 age group saw the largest increase in payrolled employees since March 2024

Annual Change in Payrolled employees by age, Scotland, March 2024 to March 2025

Source: PAYE RTI, all age groups, seasonally adjusted, HMRC

Changes over the year are rounded to the nearest thousand.

Note: Early estimates for March 2025 are provided to give an indication of the likely level of payrolled employees in the latest period. The figures are based on around 85% of information being available. They are considered of lower quality and may be subject to revision in next month's release when between 98% to 99% of data will be available.

Median earnings for payrolled employees (HMRC PAYE RTI)

The latest early estimates for March 2025 indicate that median monthly pay for payrolled employees in Scotland was £2,508, an increase of 5.3% in nominal terms compared to the same period the previous year.

Real median monthly pay for payrolled employees in Scotland, adjusted for inflation (using the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH)), has grown by 1.9% over the year to March 2025.

Figure 6: Real pay for payrolled employees remained relatively constant up until the pandemic. However, real pay has been higher than at the start of the coronavirus pandemic (February 2020) since July 2020

Median Real and Nominal Monthly Pay for payrolled employees, seasonally adjusted, Scotland, July 2014 to March 2025 

Source: PAYE RTI, all industries, seasonally adjusted, HMRC and CPIH, ONS

Payrolled employments by nationality (HMRC RTI)

This information is based on annual estimates of payrolled employment counts by region, industry and nationality from HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) data and HMRC’s Migrant Worker Scan.

Please note that payrolled employments cannot be directly compared to payrolled employee estimates which are released on a monthly basis as payrolled employees could have multiple payrolled employments. Therefore, payrolled employment estimates will follow the same trend as payrolled employees but the counts will be higher.

In December 2024, there were 2,583,100 payrolled employments in Scotland, down 5,500 (-0.2%) since December 2023. Of the payrolled employments in Scotland in December 2024, UK nationals accounted for 87.5% (2.26 million), EU nationals accounted for 5.2% (135,000) and non-EU nationals accounted for 7.2% (187,000).

Figure 7: In Scotland, payrolled employments held by UK nationals have returned to pre-pandemic trends following a sustained dip during 2020. Over the year to December 2024, payrolled employments held by UK nationals decreased by 26,900 (-1.2%)

Payrolled employments in Scotland held by UK nationals, non-seasonally adjusted, July 2014 to December 2024

Source: HM Revenue and Customs – Pay As You Earn Real Time Information (non-seasonally adjusted) and Migrant Worker Scan

Figure 8: In Scotland, payrolled employments held by non-EU nationals in Scotland have been rising rapidly following 2020, while payrolled employments held by EU nationals have stayed relatively constant. Over the year to December 2024, payrolled employments held by non-EU nationals increased by 23,800 (14.6%) while payrolled employments held by EU nationals decreased by 2,400 (-1.7%)

Payrolled employments in Scotland held by non-UK nationals (EU and non-EU), July 2014 to December 2024

Source: HM Revenue and Customs – Pay As You Earn Real Time Information (non-seasonally adjusted) and Migrant Worker Scan

Figure 9: In Scotland, payrolled employments of non-EU nationals increased across the majority of industries (19 of the 20 SIC industry sections) between December 2023 and December 2024. Payrolled employments for the remaining industry sector was unchanged over the year.

Change in counts of payrolled employments of UK, EU and Non-EU nationals by industry between December 2023 and December 2024, Scotland

Source: HM Revenue and Customs – Pay As You Earn Real Time Information (non-seasonally adjusted) and Migrant Worker Scan

For further information please see the latest HMRC UK payrolled employments by nationality, region and industry publication.