Economic Activity Rates

HC Deb 21 January 2003 vol 398 cc238-43W

Hywel Williams

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the rates of economic activity were in each of the last three years in(a) the UK and (b) each region, broken down by (i) age and (ii) sex. [91635]

Ruth Kelly

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Hywel Williams, dated 21 January2003: As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about economic activity rates. (91635) The attached tables give the information requested based on data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Table 1 shows estimates for the United Kingdom which have been reweighted to reflect the results of the 2001 Census. Comparable estimates for countries and regions within the UK are not yet available. This is because the revised population estimates for regions consistent with the 2001 Census, which are needed to produce the LFS estimates, will not be available until February 2003.

LFS estimates for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the regions of England are available based on population estimates which have not yet been reweighted to reflect the Census results. These LFS estimates are shown in Tables 2–4.

Table 1: Economic activity rates1by age and sex; adjusted to reflect the 2001 Census population data; United Kingdom; 1999–2000 to
2001–02
Percentage
	December 1999 to November 2000	December 2000 to November 2001	December 2001 to November 2002
25–34	75.2	74.9	74.9
35–49	77.8	77.9	78.0
50–59	66.0	66.2	67.2
60+	8.5	8.7	9.1
1 Total economically active as a percentage of all persons in the relevant age group.
2 Economic activity rates are usually given for the working age population. This is defined as men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59. The age breakdowns in this table reflect that definition.

Source:

ONS Labour Force Survey

Table 2: Economic activity rates1 by region, age and sex; not adjusted to reflect the 2001 Census population data; United Kingdom;
December 1999 to November 2000
Percentage
Government office region	All aged 16 and over	16–59/64 2	16–17	18–24	25–34	35–49	50–64 to 50–59 2	60–65 2
All persons
North East	58.9	74.7	61.6	73.0	81.6	82.4	60.1	5.4
North West including Merseyside	61.4	76.9	55.6	74.7	84.1	84.2	64.2	6.5
Yorkshire and Humberside	62.8	78.8	55.6	76.1	85.1	84.6	69.9	7.1
East Midlands	64.2	80.7	63.1	74.2	85.3	87.4	73.1	7.2
West Midlands	62.5	78.3	58.3	75.8	82.9	84.7	69.7	7.9
Eastern	65.6	81.9	63.5	80	85.3	87.1	74.9	9.7
London	65.1	76.9	43.7	70.6	83.5	81.4	70.0	10.2
South East	67.1	83.3	69	78.6	87.3	88.5	76.6	10.6
South West	64.1	82.6	64.4	79.6	87.3	88.7	74.4	8.9
Wales	58.0	74.3	58.5	73.3	82.5	82.1	60.3	6.7
Scotland	62.9	78.4	59.5	78.3	84.5	85.4	65.2	6.9
Northern Ireland	58.7	71.1	27.3	69.9	81	77.7	60.4	7.7
Men
North East	67.2	80.1	60.4	80.5	91.3	90.4	61	3.7
North West including Merseyside	70.1	82.6	58.1	82.5	93.5	90.6	67.0	5.4
Yorkshire and Humberside	71.0	83.8	55.0	80.0	94.2	91.4	71.7	5.9
East Midlands	72.7	86.2	61.6	80.5	94.3	93.2	76.9	7.2
West Midlands	70.9	83.8	54.4	80.8	92.8	92.2	71.9	6.8
Eastern	74.1	87.7	65.2	84.6	93.9	94.5	78.2	8.9
London	74.1	83.5	45.0	72.9	92.7	90.6	73.3	9.8
South East	75.7	88.8	66.3	83.1	95.9	95.7	79.6	10.8
South West	72.1	87.3	65.8	82.5	95.8	94.8	76.7	8.3
Wales	65.9	79.4	54.7	79.5	90.8	89.6	62.5	5.6
Scotland	70.9	82.8	59.5	82.1	92.1	90.8	68.1	6.8
Northern Ireland	68.9	78.5	30.7	76.9	91.0	87.6	64.5	10.8
Women
North East	51.1	68.7	62.9	65.4	71.6	74.4	58.8	6.3
North West including Merseyside	53.0	70.6	52.9	66.6	74.1	77.8	60.5	7.1
Yorkshire and Humberside	54.9	73.2	56.3	72.0	75.4	77.6	67.3	7.8
East Midlands	56.0	74.6	64.5	67.2	76.0	81.5	67.8	7.3
West Midlands	54.4	72.1	62.2	70.5	72.5	77.1	66.7	8.5
Eastern	57.4	75.5	61.8	75.2	76.4	79.6	70.4	10.3
London	56.3	69.6	42.3	68.2	73.5	71.7	65.7	10.4
South East	58.8	77.3	71.8	73.9	78.4	81.2	72.5	10.5
South West	56.5	77.4	63.0	76.5	78.3	82.6	71.2	9.2
Wales	50.5	68.8	62.1	66.7	73.8	74.5	57.3	7.4
Scotland	55.6	73.8	59.4	74.4	76.8	80.1	61.3	7.0
Northern Ireland	49.3	63.2	23.8	62.8	70.8	68.2	55	6.1
1 Total economically active as a percentage of all persons in the relevant age group.
2 Economic activity rates are usually given for the working age population. This is defined as men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59. The age breakdowns in this table reflect that definition.

Source:

ONS Labour Force Survey

Table 3: Economic activity rates1 by region, age and sex; not adjusted to reflect the 2001 Census population data; United Kingdom;
December 2000 to November 2001
Percentage
Government office region	All aged 16 and over	16–59/642	16–17	18–24	25–34	35–49	50–64 to 50–592	60/652
All persons
North East	58.5	74.2	53.6	75.4	80.2	80.9	61.8	4.8
North West including Merseyside	61.3	76.7	56.5	72.2	83.5	84.3	65.3	6.8
Yorkshire and Humberside	62.2	78.0	56.5	73.3	83.7	84.9	69.0	6.6
East Midlands	63.8	80.0	59.5	76.2	83.6	86.7	72.7	7.1
West Midlands	62.8	78.6	56.2	76.8	83.3	84.8	70.6	7.7
Eastern	66.3	82.7	59.9	81.2	87.1	88.0	75.3	9.9
London	64.8	76.3	37.9	70.5	82.3	81.2	70.6	10.0
South East	67.0	83.1	65.4	78.1	87.0	88.2	77.3	11.0
South West	63.9	82.3	66.0	78.9	86.8	88.9	73.6	8.9
Wales	57.5	73.3	53.8	74.5	81.3	80.2	60.3	7.7
Scotland	63.0	78.6	58.3	78.2	85.2	84.0	68.0	6.5
Northern Ireland	59.5	72.1	32.0	71.4	82.5	79.4	58.8	7.9
Men
North East	66.6	79.5	57.1	81.4	89.9	88.6	62.3	3—
North West including Merseyside	69.3	81.6	56.9	78.4	92.5	89.5	67.6	5.8
Yorkshire and Humberside	70.3	83.0	59.4	78.9	92.3	90.5	71.5	5.6
East Midlands	72.0	85.3	58.3	81.6	93.3	92.9	75.3	7.4
West Midlands	72.1	85.2	57.4	83.9	93.6	92.4	74.1	7.2
Eastern	74.5	88.5	60.3	86.9	95.2	94.5	79.6	8.5
London	73.8	83.3	39.4	74.0	92.0	90.5	73.9	8.7
South East	75.4	88.7	63.7	81.9	96.1	95.5	80.3	10.6
South West	71.5	86.6	65.4	80.6	94.9	94.2	76.9	8.3
Wales	65.2	78.3	52.8	81.1	91.0	86.0	62.3	6.5
Scotland	70.8	83.1	57.6	83.4	91.6	89.9	70.9	5.2
Northern Ireland	69.9	79.9	38.2	79.9	91.9	88.9	64.7	9.2
Women
North East	50.8	68.4	49.8	69	70.3	73.3	61.1	5.8
North West including Merseyside	53.7	71.3	56	65.8	73.9	79.0	62.0	7.4
Yorkshire and Humberside	54.3	72.4	53.1	67.6	74.6	79.1	65.5	7.2
East Midlands	55.8	74.2	60.8	70.5	73.6	80.4	69.3	6.9
West Midlands	53.7	71.3	55.1	69.0	72.3	77.0	65.8	7.9
Eastern	58.3	76.5	59.3	75.4	78.7	81.4	69.5	10.8
London	55.8	68.6	36.3	66.9	71.7	71.3	66.3	10.8
South East	58.8	76.9	67.2	74.1	77.8	80.7	73.2	11.2
South West	56.7	77.5	66.7	77.0	78.2	83.7	69.2	9.3
Wales	50.2	67.8	54.8	67.3	71.1	74.3	57.6	8.4
Scotland	55.7	73.9	59.1	73.0	78.7	78.1	64.2	7.2
Northern Ireland	49.9	63.7	25.5	62.8	72.9	70.2	50.9	7.1
1Total economically active as a percentage of all persons in the relevant age group.
Economic activity rates are usually given for the working age population. This is defined as men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59. The age breakdowns in this table reflect that definition.
3 Sample size too small for reliable estimate

Source:

ONS Labour Force Survey

Table 4: Economic activity rates1 by region, age and sex; not adjusted to reflect the 2001 Census population data; United Kingdom;
December 2001 to November 2002
Percentage
Government office region	All aged 16 and over	16–59/64 2	16–17	18–24	25–34	35–49	50–64 to 50–59 2	60/652
All persons
North East	58.3	73.9	48.7	73.2	79.4	82.8	60.7	4.5
North West including Merseyside	61.4	76.7	50.4	75.0	83.5	84.0	65.7	6.9
Yorkshire and Humberside	62.3	77.9	57.5	73.5	83.5	84.5	68.9	7.3
East Midlands	64.3	80.4	60.9	74.7	82.8	88.0	73.7	8.1
West Midlands	63.3	79.1	53.2	76.6	83.9	85.1	71.8	8.7
Eastern	65.8	82.3	59.3	80.0	84.8	88.2	76.7	9.8
London	64.7	76.0	34.8	69.6	83.5	80.3	70.3	10.6
South East	67.2	83.2	65.3	80.6	86.8	88.1	77.2	11.6
South West	64.3	82.5	65.6	82.0	87.1	88.5	73.7	9.6
Wales	57.8	74.0	53.6	69.0	81.1	82.9	62.9	6.8
Scotland	63.1	78.8	61.5	78.7	84.3	84.7	67.7	6.6
Northern Ireland	59.7	71.9	27.5	68.3	83.5	78.3	62.0	9.7

Table 4: Economic activity rates1 by region, age and sex; not adjusted to reflect the 2001 Census population data; United Kingdom;
December 2001 to November 2002
Percentage
Government office region	All aged 16 and over	16–59/642	16–17	18–24	25–34	35–49	50–64 to 50–592	60/652
Men
North East	65.3	77.8	49.3	79.6	87	88.7	60.2	3.4
North West including Merseyside	69.0	81.3	47.8	79.8	91.8	90.4	67.7	5.5
Yorkshire and Humberside	70.8	83.5	58.6	79.0	93.0	91.0	72.2	6.4
East Midlands	72.1	85.4	60.9	78.5	91.8	94.1	76.7	7.4
West Midlands	71.9	84.7	55.3	80.9	93.5	92.3	74.6	8.5
Eastern	74.1	88.1	59.2	84.8	94.5	94.9	80.0	8.5
London	73.6	82.8	35.1	75.2	92.3	89.2	73.6	9.9
South East	75.6	88.8	62.5	84.3	95.4	95.9	80.0	11.3
South West	71.5	86.7	63.6	84.1	96.3	93.6	75.9	8.1
Wales	65.9	79.3	56.6	77.2	90.5	88.6	65.2	6.5
Scotland	70.3	82.6	58.4	82.9	90.5	91.0	68.5	5.6
Northern Ireland	69.3	78.9	28.8	76.0	93.0	86.9	67.0	12.0
Women
North East	51.6	69.6	48.1	66.3	71.7	76.8	61.4	5.2
North West including Merseyside	54.0	71.5	53.0	70.1	74.7	77.6	63.0	7.7
Yorkshire and Humberside	54.0	71.5	56.4	67.6	73.4	77.8	64.5	7.9
East Midlands	56.7	74.8	60.9	70.6	73.5	81.8	69.6	8.5
West Midlands	55.0	72.7	50.9	72.0	73.7	77.8	68.0	8.8
Eastern	57.9	76.0	59.5	75.2	74.8	81.3	72.1	10.6
London	56.0	68.5	34.5	64.0	73.8	71.0	65.9	11.0
South East	59.2	77.2	68.1	76.8	78.1	79.9	73.4	11.8
South West	57.4	77.9	67.7	79.7	77.3	83.4	70.8	10.6
Wales	50.1	68.1	50.5	60.3	71.1	77.3	59.7	7.0
Scotland	56.4	74.8	64.8	74.4	78.0	78.6	66.6	7.1
Northern Ireland	50.7	64.4	26.1	60.5	73.8	70.1	55.5	8.4
1Total economically active as a percentage of all persons in the relevant age group.
2Economic activity rates are usually given for the working age population. This is defined as men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59. The age breakdowns in this table reflect that definition.

Source:

ONS Labour Force Survey