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Economic inactivity rate

Proportion of working age population that are not active in labour market

Labour Market Standards of Living Newcastle North Tyneside South Tyneside Durham Gateshead Sunderland Northumberland
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The North East economic inactivity rate

Economic inactivity measures the number of people who are not in work or actively seeking employment. The headline rate is the percentage of 16 to 64 year old people as that age group is used as a proxy for the working age group.

The latest economic inactivity rate is based on survey data from throughout the 2023 calendar year. In that period, in the North East, among those aged 16 to 64:

  • Just over 24% were economically inactive
  • this was lower than in 2021 and 2022 but higher than in 2020 
  • the rate was higher than that of England excluding London but the gap was narrower than in the previous two years
  • the North East rate was the fourth highest among the eight core city areas
  • at local authority level, South Tyneside had the highest rate, with Gateshead having the lowest
  • at constituency level, the highest North East rate was in Wansbeck in Northumberland.

Economic inactivity by sex and age

In the North East in 2023:

  • The male economic inactivity rate was 6.5 percentage points (pp) lower than the female rate
  • this gap was larger than in 2022 but narrower than in every other year in the time series back to 2004 
  • the male rate was highest among 16 to 24 year-olds but the female rate was highest for the 50 to 64 age group
  • both rates were lowest among those aged 35 to 49
  • the North East 16 to 24 rates were both lower than the England excluding London equivalents but all of the other, older, rates were higher in the North East
  • in the latest year, there were large decreases in North East inactivity among males and females aged 16 to 24 and among males aged 35 to 49
  • the largest increase in inactivity was among males aged 25 to 34.

Reasons for economic inactivity

Individuals can be economically inactive for a range of reasons. These include being in education; having health issues or disabilities that prevent them from work; having caring responsibilities; or being retired. When surveyed, respondents are asked for the main reason that they are not working and some cite a reason other than these.

In the North East in 2023:

  • Over 35% of working age inactivity was due to long-term or temporary sickness, compared to just under 30% in England excluding London
  • this was equivalent to 8.5% of the total working age population, compared to 6.2% in England excluding London
  • about 4.7% of the North East working age population were inactive due to study, a further 4.6% cited looking after family or home as the main reason and just under 4% cited retirement
  • among North East local authority areas, almost 12% of the South Tyneside working age population were economically inactive due to sickness
  • South Tyneside also had the highest percentage of residents inactive due to study, while Northumberland had the highest percentages citing looking after family or home and citing retirement
  • the number of North East working age people inactive due to sickness was slightly lower than in 2022 but higher than in any other year since 2006
  • working age inactivity in the North East due to study was at its lowest level since 2006
  • North East males were more likely than females to be inactive and cite sickness as a reason
  • North East females were more likely than males to be inactive and cite any of the reasons other than sickness.