UK economic inactivity by reason 2026| ��ƽ��

Percentage of economically inactive people in the United Kingdom from 1st quarter 2000 to 1st quarter 2026, by reason

Characteristic	Student	Long-term / temp sicknesss	Looking after family / home	Retired	Other*
Q1 2026	27%	32.7%	17.1%	11.3%	11.6%
Q4 2025	26.8%	33%	17.1%	11.3%	11.8%
Q3 2025	25.4%	33.2%	17.4%	11.4%	12.6%
Q2 2025	25.8%	32.9%	17.8%	11.2%	12%
Q1 2025	26.6%	32%	17.7%	11.5%	12.1%
Q4 2024	26.6%	32.2%	17.9%	11.6%	11.8%
Q3 2024	26.7%	32.1%	17.8%	11.6%	11.8%
Q2 2024	27%	32.2%	18.5%	11.3%	11%
Q1 2024	26.8%	32.1%	17.8%	11.7%	11.5%
Q4 2023	26.9%	31.9%	18%	11.6%	11.6%
Q3 2023	26.7%	31.5%	18.2%	11.6%	11.9%
Q2 2023	25.7%	32%	18.4%	11.9%	12.1%
Q1 2023	25.5%	31.8%	19.1%	11.7%	11.9%
Q4 2022	25.8%	30.4%	19.5%	11.9%	12.4%
Q3 2022	26.7%	30%	19.4%	12.4%	11.5%
Q2 2022	26.5%	29.5%	19.4%	12.9%	11.7%
Q1 2022	26.5%	28.9%	19.7%	12.8%	12.2%
Q4 2021	26.2%	29%	19.2%	12.7%	12.8%
Q3 2021	26.5%	28.9%	19.1%	13%	12.5%
Q2 2021	28.4%	27.6%	18.3%	13%	12.8%
Q1 2021	28.3%	27.6%	17.9%	12.6%	13.6%
Q4 2020	27.4%	28.3%	18.8%	12.2%	13.4%
Q3 2020	27%	27.8%	18.9%	12.6%	13.7%
Q2 2020	24.7%	27%	20.7%	12.3%	15.3%
Q1 2020	25.6%	28.1%	21.7%	12.8%	11.8%
Q4 2019	26.8%	26.2%	22.4%	13.1%	11.5%
Q3 2019	26.4%	25.8%	23.1%	12.9%	11.7%
Q2 2019	26.6%	25.5%	23.6%	12.7%	11.6%
Q1 2019	26.3%	25.1%	23.8%	12.9%	11.9%
Q4 2018	26.3%	25.3%	23.5%	13%	11.9%
Q3 2018	27.2%	24.9%	23.3%	12.8%	11.8%
Q2 2018	26.7%	25.4%	23.3%	13%	11.6%
Q1 2018	26.6%	24.8%	23.6%	13.4%	11.6%
Q4 2017	26.8%	25%	23.8%	13.2%	11.2%
Q3 2017	26.8%	25.2%	23.3%	13.4%	11.3%
Q2 2017	26.3%	24.4%	24.3%	13.9%	11.1%
Q1 2017	26.1%	24.5%	24.9%	13.3%	11.2%
Q4 2016	26.1%	23.8%	24.8%	13.4%	11.9%
Q3 2016	25.9%	24.5%	25.2%	12.9%	11.5%
Q2 2016	25.9%	25%	24.9%	13%	11.2%
Q1 2016	25.3%	25.6%	25.2%	13%	10.9%
Q4 2015	25.7%	25.4%	25.1%	13.1%	10.7%
Q3 2015	25.6%	25.7%	24.9%	13.5%	10.3%
Q2 2015	25.5%	25.4%	25.2%	13.8%	10.1%
Q1 2015	25.8%	24.7%	25.2%	14.2%	10.1%
Q4 2014	25.9%	24.5%	25.4%	14.2%	10%
Q3 2014	25.8%	24.4%	25.4%	14.5%	9.9%
Q2 2014	25.9%	24.2%	25.7%	14.7%	9.5%
Q1 2014	25.9%	24.3%	25.4%	14.8%	9.6%
Q4 2013	25.7%	24.8%	25.5%	14.8%	9.2%
Q3 2013	25.7%	24.2%	25.8%	15%	9.3%
Q2 2013	25.9%	24.5%	24.9%	15.1%	9.6%
Q1 2013	25.3%	24.6%	25.2%	15.2%	9.7%
Q4 2012	25%	24.8%	25.8%	15.4%	9%
Q3 2012	24.6%	24.5%	25.6%	15.6%	9.7%
Q2 2012	24.2%	25.1%	25.3%	15.9%	9.5%
Q1 2012	24.8%	25%	25.1%	15.8%	9.3%
Q4 2011	24.7%	24.5%	24.7%	16.4%	9.7%
Q3 2011	24.6%	24.9%	24.8%	16.6%	9.1%
Q2 2011	24.3%	24.9%	24.8%	16.6%	9.4%
Q1 2011	24.5%	25%	24.7%	16.4%	9.4%
Q4 2010	23.7%	25.3%	24.4%	16.7%	9.9%
Q3 2010	23.9%	25.6%	24.7%	16.4%	9.4%
Q2 2010	24.2%	25.8%	24.8%	15.9%	9.3%
Q1 2010	24.5%	25.1%	25%	16.2%	9.2%
Q4 2009	24.4%	25.1%	24.9%	16.5%	9.1%
Q3 2009	23.7%	25.3%	25.3%	16.4%	9.3%
Q2 2009	23.3%	25.2%	25.7%	16.4%	9.4%
Q1 2009	22.9%	25.7%	25.8%	16.6%	9%
Q4 2008	22.6%	25.4%	25.9%	16.8%	9.3%
Q3 2008	21.8%	26.3%	25.7%	16.8%	9.4%
Q2 2008	21.7%	25.8%	26.2%	16.6%	9.7%
Q1 2008	21.3%	26.4%	26%	16.3%	10%
Q4 2007	21.3%	26.5%	26%	16.3%	9.9%
Q3 2007	21%	26.3%	26.3%	16.2%	10.2%
Q2 2007	20.9%	26.3%	26.7%	16.1%	10%
Q1 2007	20.5%	26.8%	26.6%	15.9%	10.2%
Q4 2006	20.3%	27%	26.7%	15.8%	10.2%
Q3 2006	20.1%	26.5%	27.5%	15.6%	10.3%
Q2 2006	20.3%	27.3%	26.9%	15.6%	9.9%
Q1 2006	20.5%	27%	27%	15.6%	9.9%
Q4 2005	20.6%	27.1%	27.1%	15.2%	10%
Q3 2005	20.8%	27.1%	26.6%	15.8%	9.7%
Q2 2005	19.8%	27.4%	26.9%	15.8%	10.1%
Q1 2005	19.5%	27.4%	27%	15.4%	10.7%
Q4 2004	19.3%	27.8%	27%	15.6%	10.3%
Q3 2004	19.1%	28.2%	27.1%	15.3%	10.3%
Q2 2004	19.1%	28%	27%	15.5%	10.4%
Q1 2004	18.8%	27.8%	27.5%	15.4%	10.5%
Q4 2003	18.8%	27.9%	27.5%	15.4%	10.4%
Q3 2003	18.8%	27.6%	27.9%	15.4%	10.3%
Q2 2003	18.7%	27.7%	28.1%	15.3%	10.2%
Q1 2003	18%	28.3%	28%	15.7%	10%
Q4 2002	17.7%	28.3%	28.3%	15.5%	10.2%
Q3 2002	17.7%	28.4%	28.1%	15.4%	10.4%
Q2 2002	17.3%	28.8%	28.1%	15.5%	10.3%
Q1 2002	17.3%	28.9%	28%	15.5%	10.3%
Q4 2001	17%	29.3%	28.2%	15.4%	10.1%
Q3 2001	17.2%	29%	28.1%	15.5%	10.2%
Q2 2001	17.3%	28.8%	28.2%	15.6%	10.1%
Q1 2001	17.1%	28.8%	28.2%	15.2%	10.7%
Q4 2000	17%	29%	28%	15.1%	10.9%
Q3 2000	16.6%	28.8%	28.1%	15.2%	11.3%
Q2 2000	16.7%	28.6%	28.5%	15.1%	11.1%
Q1 2000	16.2%	29%	28.7%	15.1%	11%

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Release date

May 2026

More information

Region

United Kingdom

Survey time period

Q1 2000 to Q1 2026

Age group

16-64 years

Supplementary notes

This statistic is using original data from the Office for National Statistics and includes copyright material from © Crown, licensed under the .

*Including discouraged workers

Citation formats

As of the first quarter of 2026, approximately 32.7 percent of people who were economically inactive in the United Kingdom were on long-term or temporary sick leave, with a further 27 percent of economically inactive people being students.