Scotland's Labour Market Insights: April 2026

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 74.0% in December 2025 to February 2026. Scotland's employment rate was below the UK rate of 75.0%.

Employment rate by sex (APS)

The employment rate for men in Scotland has been consistently above the employment rate for women in Scotland. The gap had typically been narrowing over time, but has widened since January to December 2022.

Figure 1: The estimated employment rate for women in Scotland has been slowly increasing over time, from 67.7% in January to December 2004 to 72.1% in January to December 2025

Employment rate estimates for persons aged 16 to 64 by sex, Scotland, year ending December 2004 to year ending December 2025

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

Shaded areas represent 95% confidence intervals around the estimates.

Data for Figure 1 can be obtained from Scotland's Labour Market Insights - Data tables - April 2026 released alongside this publication.

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 2007. This is due to higher numbers of people aged 16 to 24 being in education and therefore economically inactive.

Figure 2: The estimated employment rate for those aged 16 to 24 in Scotland has been lower than any other age group since 2007

Employment rate estimates for persons aged 16 to 64 by age group, Scotland, year ending December 2004 to year ending December 2025

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

Shaded areas represent 95% confidence intervals around the estimates.

Data for Figure 2 can be obtained from Scotland's Labour Market Insights - Data tables - April 2026 released alongside this publication.

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 50.9% in January to December 2025. This was significantly lower than the employment rate for non-disabled people (83.4%).

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 employment rate for non-disabled people minus the employment rate for disabled people.

The estimated disability employment rate gap has narrowed from 37.4 percentage points (pp) in January to December 2016 to 32.5 pp in January to December 2025.

Figure 3: The employment rate for disabled people aged 16 to 64 has continually been lower than the employment rate for non-disabled people. The disability employment rate gap generally narrowed from 2014 to 2019 and has remained relatively constant since then

Employment rates for persons aged 16 to 64 by disability, Scotland, year ending December 2014 to year ending December 2025

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

Shaded areas represent 95% confidence intervals around the estimates.

Data for Figure 3 can be obtained from Scotland's Labour Market Insights - Data tables - April 2026 released alongside this publication.

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 in the employment rates between the individual ethnic groups included within the combined 'Minority ethnic' grouping 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 65.5% in January to December 2025 compared to 75.5% 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 the employment rate for minority ethnic groups.

In 2025, the estimated gap between the employment rate for white groups compared with minority ethnic groups was 9.9 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 2025

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

Shaded areas represent 95% confidence intervals around the estimates.

Note: Please see methodology section for further details on confidence intervals and design factors in relation to ethnicity.

Data for Figure 4 can be obtained from Scotland's Labour Market Insights - Data tables - April 2026 released alongside this publication.

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 2026 indicate that there were 2.45 million payrolled employees in Scotland, a decrease of 0.1% (-3,000) compared with March 2025.  

Payrolled employees by age (HMRC PAYE RTI)

HMRC data published in April 2026 also provides breakdowns of payrolled employees by age group. 

Of the estimated 2.45 million payrolled employees in Scotland in March 2026, 32.6% were aged 35 to 49 and 28.5% were aged 50 to 64.

The 35 to 49 age group saw the largest increase in the estimated number of payrolled employees over the year to March 2026 (up 7,000). The 50 to 64 age groups saw the largest decrease over this period (down 8,000).

The 65 and over age group saw the largest percentage increase over the year (up 6.2%). The under 18 age group saw the largest percentage decrease over the year (down 5.1%).

Figure 5: The 35 to 49 age group saw the largest increase in payrolled employees since March 2025

Annual Change in Payrolled employees by age estimates, Scotland, March 2025 to March 2026

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

Data for Figure 5 can be obtained from Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, seasonally adjusted data released on 21 April 2026.

Changes over the year are rounded to the nearest thousand.

Note: Early estimates for March 2026 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.

Payrolled employees by industry (HMRC PAYE RTI)

HMRC data published in February 2026 shows that the annual change in payrolled employees varies by industry sector. 

Of the estimated 2.45 million payrolled employees in Scotland in January 2026, the highest proportions of payrolled employees were employed in the Health and Social Work (15.4%), Wholesale and Retail (13.4%), and Education (13.2%) industry sectors. The lowest proportions of payrolled employees were employed in the Water Supply, Sewerage and Waste (0.7%), Mining and Quarrying (0.7%), and Energy Production and Supply (0.8%) industries.

The Health and Social Work sector saw the largest growth in the number of payrolled employees over the year (up 3,000). The Accommodation and Food Services sector saw the largest decrease in the number of payrolled employees (down 7,000).

The Energy Production and Supply industry sector has shown the largest percentage growth in payrolled employees over the year to January 2026 (up 5.1%). Nine of the twenty industry sectors showed a decrease over the year to January 2026.

Figure 6: The Energy sector has seen the largest percentage increase in payrolled employees since January 2025

Annual Percentage Change in Payrolled employees by industry sector estimates, Scotland, January 2025 to January 2026

Source: PAYE RTI, all industries, seasonally adjusted, HMRC

Data for Figure 6 can be obtained from Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, seasonally adjusted data released on 17 February 2026.

Industry sectors are based on the ONS UK Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes.

Notes: Based on early January 2026 estimates published in February 2026. January 2026 estimates are based on around 85% of information available at the time of publication and may be subject to more significant revisions. Payrolled employees by industry sector data is updated quarterly. The next estimates, comparing early estimates for April 2026 with April 2025, will be published in May 2026.

Median earnings for payrolled employees (HMRC PAYE RTI)

Early estimates for March 2026 indicate that median monthly pay for payrolled employees in Scotland was £2,619, an increase of 4.0% 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)), grew by 0.5% over the year to March 2026.

Figure 7: Nominal pay for payrolled employees has increased steadily over time. Real pay for payrolled employees is above the pre-pandemic level

Median Real and Nominal Monthly Pay for payrolled employees, seasonally adjusted, Scotland, July 2014 to March 2026

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 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 the payrolled employee estimates 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 2025, there were 2,568,600 payrolled employments in Scotland, down 10,700 (-0.4%) since December 2024. Of the payrolled employments in Scotland in December 2025, UK nationals accounted for 86.8% (2.23 million), EU nationals accounted for 5.2% (132,300) and non-EU nationals accounted for 8.1% (207,700).

Over the year to December 2025, payrolled employments held by UK nationals decreased by 27,300 (-1.2%).

Figure 8: In Scotland, payrolled employments held by UK nationals returned to pre-pandemic trends following a sustained dip during 2020 but have gradually decreased during 2025

Payrolled employments in Scotland held by UK nationals, non-seasonally adjusted, July 2014 to December 2025

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

Over the year to December 2025, payrolled employments held by non-EU nationals increased by 19,600 (10.4%) while payrolled employments held by EU nationals decreased by 2,900 (-2.1%).

Figure 9: In Scotland, payrolled employments held by non-EU nationals in Scotland have been rising rapidly since 2020. Payrolled employments held by EU nationals stayed relatively constant but have decreased slightly during 2025

Payrolled employments in Scotland held by non-UK nationals (EU and non-EU), July 2014 to December 2025

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

In Scotland, the industry sector with the largest decreases in the number of payrolled employments of UK nationals between December 2024 and December 2025 were:

• Wholesale and retail; repair of motor vehicles, down 7,400 (-2.3%) to 308,700 in December 2025
• Education, down 4,900 (-1.6%) to 302,900 in December 2025
• Health and social work, down 4,900 (-1.4%) to 344,300 in December 2025

In Scotland, the industry sector with the largest decrease in the number of payrolled employments of EU nationals between December 2024 and December 2025 was:

• Accommodation and food service activities, down 1,500 (-7.9%) to 17,500 payrolled employments in December 2025

Over the year, the industry sectors with the largest increase in level of payrolled employments of non-EU nationals were:

• Health and social work, up 5,400 (13.1%) to 46,500 in December 2025
• Administrative and support services, up 2,900 (11.9%) to 27,200 in December 2025

Figure 10: In Scotland, payrolled employments of non-EU nationals increased across the majority of industries (SIC industry sections) between December 2024 and December 2025

Change in counts of payrolled employments of UK, EU and Non-EU nationals by industry between December 2024 and December 2025, Scotland

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

Note: SIC code groupings are unknown for some payrolled employments. These employments have been grouped with the Households and Extraterritorial Organisations.

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