UK unemployment rate by age 2026| ��ƽ��

Unemployment rate in the United Kingdom from 1st quarter 2000 to 1st quarter 2026, by age group

Characteristic	16-24	25-34	35-49	50-64	65+
Q1 2026	16.2%	4.7%	2.9%	3%	2.4%
Q4 2025	16.1%	4.7%	3.2%	3.3%	3.1%
Q3 2025	15.3%	4.4%	3.1%	3.1%	3%
Q2 2025	14.1%	3.9%	3.1%	3.1%	2.7%
Q1 2025	14.2%	4.3%	2.7%	2.8%	2.9%
Q4 2024	14.7%	4.1%	2.5%	2.5%	2.7%
Q3 2024	14.8%	3.8%	2.3%	2.6%	2.3%
Q2 2024	13.4%	3.8%	2.7%	2.5%	2.3%
Q1 2024	13.1%	4.1%	2.8%	2.7%	2.8%
Q4 2023	11.9%	3.8%	2.7%	2.3%	1.2%
Q3 2023	12.1%	3.4%	3.2%	2.8%	1.5%
Q2 2023	12.3%	4%	2.6%	2.9%	2%
Q1 2023	11.6%	3.4%	2.4%	3.2%	2.1%
Q4 2022	11.7%	3.4%	2.6%	2.7%	2%
Q3 2022	10.2%	3.6%	2.5%	2.7%	1.8%
Q2 2022	10.3%	3.9%	2.4%	2.7%	2.1%
Q1 2022	10.7%	3.4%	2.6%	2.7%	2%
Q4 2021	11.3%	3.7%	2.9%	3.3%	2.3%
Q3 2021	12%	3.9%	2.9%	3.5%	2.4%
Q2 2021	12.9%	4%	3.2%	3.6%	2.8%
Q1 2021	13.6%	4%	3.4%	4.1%	2.5%
Q4 2020	14.8%	4.3%	3.7%	4.3%	2.5%
Q3 2020	15.3%	4.4%	3%	3.6%	2.4%
Q2 2020	13%	3.6%	2.5%	2.7%	1.6%
Q1 2020	12.4%	3.3%	2.6%	3.1%	2%
Q4 2019	11.2%	3.1%	2.4%	2.7%	2.5%
Q3 2019	12%	3.3%	2.4%	2.8%	1.3%
Q2 2019	11.6%	3.4%	2.6%	2.7%	1.2%
Q1 2019	10.9%	3.3%	2.6%	2.8%	1.4%
Q4 2018	11.8%	3.5%	2.7%	2.8%	1.4%
Q3 2018	11.2%	3.8%	2.8%	3%	1.2%
Q2 2018	11.3%	3.9%	2.6%	2.8%	1.3%
Q1 2018	12%	3.7%	2.6%	3.2%	1.8%
Q4 2017	12.4%	3.9%	2.9%	3%	1.8%
Q3 2017	12%	3.9%	2.8%	3%	1.8%
Q2 2017	12.3%	4%	3%	3.1%	1.6%
Q1 2017	12.4%	4.5%	3.1%	3%	1.1%
Q4 2016	12.5%	4.6%	3.2%	3.3%	1.4%
Q3 2016	13.3%	4.6%	3.2%	3.3%	1.3%
Q2 2016	13.6%	4.5%	3.3%	3.4%	1.5%
Q1 2016	13.7%	4.7%	3.2%	3.7%	1.8%
Q4 2015	13.6%	5.1%	3.3%	3.4%	1.6%
Q3 2015	14.2%	5%	3.6%	3.5%	1.8%
Q2 2015	15.7%	5.2%	3.7%	3.5%	1.9%
Q1 2015	15.9%	4.9%	3.7%	3.4%	1.9%
Q4 2014	16.4%	5.2%	3.7%	3.5%	1.6%
Q3 2014	16.4%	5.5%	4.1%	3.8%	1.9%
Q2 2014	16.7%	6%	4.2%	4.2%	2.3%
Q1 2014	18.9%	6.2%	4.4%	4.3%	2.4%
Q4 2013	20.1%	6.6%	4.8%	4.4%	2.8%
Q3 2013	21.2%	7%	5.1%	4.7%	2%
Q2 2013	21.4%	7%	5.2%	4.9%	2.4%
Q1 2013	20.8%	7.4%	5.4%	4.9%	1.8%
Q4 2012	21%	7.3%	5.4%	4.7%	2.2%
Q3 2012	21%	7.6%	5.3%	4.7%	2%
Q2 2012	21.5%	7.7%	5.3%	4.8%	2%
Q1 2012	21.9%	7.8%	5.4%	5.1%	3.1%
Q4 2011	22.3%	8.1%	5.5%	5.2%	3%
Q3 2011	22.3%	8.2%	5.4%	4.9%	3.1%
Q2 2011	20.6%	7.9%	5.4%	4.8%	2%
Q1 2011	20.3%	7.4%	5.4%	4.9%	1.9%
Q4 2010	20.6%	7.4%	5.5%	4.8%	2.3%
Q3 2010	19.3%	7.4%	5.6%	4.9%	2.2%
Q2 2010	19.9%	7.6%	5.5%	4.9%	2.3%
Q1 2010	20.3%	8.2%	5.5%	4.7%	3.2%
Q4 2009	19.5%	7.8%	5.3%	4.9%	2.8%
Q3 2009	20%	7.9%	5.4%	4.6%	3.1%
Q2 2009	19.4%	7.9%	5.3%	4.6%	2.9%
Q1 2009	18.1%	6.8%	4.8%	4.3%	2.6%
Q4 2008	16.5%	5.9%	4.3%	3.9%	2.3%
Q3 2008	15.5%	5.5%	3.8%	3.4%	2.6%
Q2 2008	14.6%	4.8%	3.5%	3%	2.1%
Q1 2008	14%	4.6%	3.5%	2.9%	1.8%
Q4 2007	13.9%	4.5%	3.5%	3%	1.3%
Q3 2007	14.5%	4.5%	3.5%	3.2%	1.7%
Q2 2007	14.7%	4.5%	3.4%	3.2%	2.7%
Q1 2007	14.5%	5.2%	3.5%	3.2%	2.2%
Q4 2006	14.1%	5.2%	3.7%	3.1%	1.6%
Q3 2006	14.3%	5.1%	3.6%	3.2%	2.4%
Q2 2006	14.3%	5.1%	3.7%	3.1%	2.3%
Q1 2006	13.6%	4.8%	3.6%	3%	2.4%
Q4 2005	13.9%	4.5%	3.4%	3%	2.7%
Q3 2005	12.7%	4.3%	2.9%	2.8%	2.5%
Q2 2005	12.8%	4.3%	3%	2.8%	1.8%
Q1 2005	12.3%	4.3%	3%	2.8%	2.2%
Q4 2004	12.5%	4.6%	2.8%	2.8%	2.6%
Q3 2004	12.4%	4.4%	2.9%	2.8%	1.7%
Q2 2004	12.1%	4.5%	3.2%	2.9%	1.9%
Q1 2004	12.1%	4.6%	3.1%	2.9%	2.3%
Q4 2003	11.8%	4.8%	3.3%	3%	2.7%
Q3 2003	12.4%	4.8%	3.4%	3.1%	2.1%
Q2 2003	12.4%	4.7%	3.1%	3.2%	2.4%
Q1 2003	12.8%	4.9%	3.3%	3.4%	2.2%
Q4 2002	12.3%	4.6%	3.6%	3.5%	1.6%
Q3 2002	12.2%	5%	3.8%	3.6%	2.6%
Q2 2002	11.9%	5%	3.6%	3.5%	2.7%
Q1 2002	12.3%	5.1%	3.5%	3.2%	2.4%
Q4 2001	12.4%	5.1%	3.6%	3.2%	1.8%
Q3 2001	11.9%	5%	3.4%	3.4%	1.7%
Q2 2001	11.7%	4.8%	3.6%	3.2%	2.2%
Q1 2001	12%	4.7%	3.6%	3.3%	2.6%
Q4 2000	12.3%	4.8%	3.5%	3.8%	2.7%
Q3 2000	12.1%	4.7%	3.9%	3.8%	1.7%
Q2 2000	12.3%	5.1%	3.9%	4.1%	2.2%
Q1 2000	12.9%	5.5%	4%	4.3%	2.1%

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Release date

May 2026

More information

Region

United Kingdom

Survey time period

Q1 2000 to Q1 2026

Age group

16 years and older

Supplementary notes

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

Citation formats

Approximately 16.2 percent of people aged 16 to 24 were unemployed in the United Kingdom in the first quarter of 2026, the highest of any age group in that month. During this time period, older age groups have had much lower unemployment rates than younger ones, who have consistently had the highest unemployment rate. For almost all the age groups, the peak in the unemployment rate was recorded in 2011, when almost a quarter of young working-age people were unemployed.

Young adults in the labor market

In the provided time period, youth unemployment was at its lowest rate in the third quarter of 2022, when it was 10.3 percent. Since then, there has been a noticeable uptick in youth unemployment, which was 14.8 percent towards the end of 2024. A more long-term trend among this age group is the increase in economic inactivity, with almost 40 percent of 16 to 24-year-old's not in work or actively looking for work in 2025. Although students or people in training account for a high share of this economic inactivity, there has also been a rise in the proportion of young adults who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), which reached a ten-year-high of 13.2 percent in late 2024.

Unemployment and long-term sickness up in 2025

In 2022, the UK labor market, had very low levels of unemployment along with a record number of job vacancies. Throughout 2023 and 2024, this very tight labor market began to loosen, with the UK experiencing unemployment rates above five percent in late 2025. Another indicator that has stood out since the COVID-19 pandemic, has been the number of people economically inactive due to being on long-term sick leave, which reached 2.8 million in the third quarter of 2025 after, and has been the main reason for economic inactivity in the UK since late 2021.