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Approximately 14.8 percent of people aged 16 to 24 were unemployed in the United Kingdom in the second quarter of 2024, 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.

Why is youth unemployment so high?

There are several reasons for the disparity between young and old when examining the unemployment rate. Lack of experience may be an issue for potential employers, leaving young people in a catch-22 situation where they cannot find work due to not having had previous employment. Young people who have just left school are also not likely to have a job in place for when they leave the education system. This is reflected by the fact that the youth unemployment rate for 16 to 17-year-old's has consistently been far higher than those aged 18 to 24. As of the second quarter of 2023, the youth unemployment rate among UK regions was highest in East England, at 17.9 percent.

Uptick in unemployment in 2023, but still historically low

The overall labor market picture in 2022 was of a loose labor market, with very low unemployment and a high number of job vacancies. Although there has been a slight uptick in unemployment since Summer 2022, and job vacancies have also fallen, unemployment in 2023 was still very low compared with the early 2010s, and is not expected to rise significantly in the coming years. One 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 November 2023, and has been the main reason for economic inactivty in the UK since late 2021.

Unemployment rate in the United Kingdom from 1st quarter 2000 to 3rd quarter 2024, by age group

Characteristic	16-24	25-34	35-49	50-64	65+
Q3 2024	14.8%	3.8%	2.3%	2.7%	2.4%
Q2 2024	13.4%	3.8%	2.7%	2.4%	2.3%
Q1 2024	13%	4.2%	2.8%	2.6%	2.8%
Q4 2023	11.6%	3.8%	2.7%	2.2%	1.3%
Q3 2023	12.1%	3.4%	3.1%	2.7%	1.6%
Q2 2023	12.3%	4%	2.6%	3%	2.1%
Q1 2023	11.6%	3.4%	2.4%	3.2%	2.1%
Q4 2022	11.5%	3.3%	2.6%	2.7%	2%
Q3 2022	10.3%	3.6%	2.5%	2.8%	1.9%
Q2 2022	10.4%	4%	2.5%	2.8%	1.9%
Q1 2022	10.6%	3.6%	2.5%	2.7%	1.7%
Q4 2021	11.1%	3.7%	2.8%	3.1%	2.2%
Q3 2021	11.7%	3.8%	2.9%	3.5%	2.4%
Q2 2021	13%	4.2%	3.4%	3.7%	2.7%
Q1 2021	13.7%	4.2%	3.5%	4.1%	2.4%
Q4 2020	14.7%	4.4%	3.7%	4.2%	2.2%
Q3 2020	14.9%	4.3%	3.1%	3.7%	2.2%
Q2 2020	13%	3.7%	2.6%	2.8%	1.4%
Q1 2020	12.3%	3.4%	2.6%	2.9%	1.9%
Q4 2019	11.3%	3.3%	2.4%	2.7%	2.5%
Q3 2019	11.9%	3.4%	2.4%	2.8%	1.3%
Q2 2019	11.6%	3.5%	2.6%	2.7%	1.1%
Q1 2019	10.8%	3.3%	2.6%	2.9%	1.3%
Q4 2018	11.8%	3.6%	2.7%	2.9%	1.3%
Q3 2018	11.2%	3.9%	2.8%	3%	1.2%
Q2 2018	11.3%	3.9%	2.7%	2.9%	1.3%
Q1 2018	12%	3.7%	2.7%	3.2%	1.8%
Q4 2017	12.4%	3.9%	2.9%	3.1%	1.7%
Q3 2017	12%	3.9%	2.9%	3%	1.8%
Q2 2017	12.3%	4.1%	3%	3.1%	1.6%
Q1 2017	12.4%	4.5%	3.1%	3.1%	1.1%
Q4 2016	12.5%	4.6%	3.3%	3.4%	1.4%
Q3 2016	13.3%	4.6%	3.3%	3.4%	1.3%
Q2 2016	13.6%	4.6%	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%	1.5%
Q3 2015	14.2%	5%	3.6%	3.6%	1.7%
Q2 2015	15.7%	5.3%	3.7%	3.5%	1.9%
Q1 2015	15.9%	5%	3.8%	3.4%	1.8%
Q4 2014	16.4%	5.2%	3.7%	3.6%	1.6%
Q3 2014	16.4%	5.5%	4.1%	3.8%	1.8%
Q2 2014	16.7%	6%	4.3%	4.2%	2.2%
Q1 2014	18.9%	6.2%	4.4%	4.3%	2.4%
Q4 2013	20.1%	6.7%	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%	5.5%	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

November 2024

More information

Region

United Kingdom

Survey time period

Q1 2000 to Q3 2024

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 Open Government License v3.0.

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