Employment, unemployment and economic inactivity in the City of Edinburgh

How the City of Edinburgh compares with Scotland and Great Britain across employment-related statistics

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Last updated:: 14 May 2024

Important information:

This pilot publication is no longer being updated. Feedback to help us develop future publications can be sent to our subnational analysis team.

In the City of Edinburgh:

Employment rate 82.1% ages 16 to 64

Employment in the City of Edinburgh has increased compared with the previous year. The City of Edinburgh's employment rate was higher than across Scotland as a whole in the year ending December 2023.

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Unemployment rate 3.5% ages 16+

Unemployment (people looking for work) has risen since a year earlier. The unemployment rate for the City of Edinburgh was about the same as across Scotland as a whole.

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Claimant Count 2.5% ages 16 to 64

Claimant Count was slightly higher in March 2024 compared with a year earlier. The Claimant Count measures the number of people who are claiming unemployment-related benefits.

Go to Claimant Count section ↓

Economic inactivity 14.2% ages 16 to 64

Economic inactivity has decreased since the previous year. These are people who are neither employed nor seeking work.

Go to economic inactivity section ↓

Warning:

These estimates are less precise than national or regional figures because they are based on smaller numbers of survey respondents.

Local population changes also mean that the numbers of people in each area who are employed, unemployed and economically inactive in this article may be under- or over-estimates.

Estimates of employment and economic inactivity are based on the Annual Population Survey. Unemployment estimates are modelled to improve their precision compared to those based only on responses provided via the Annual Population Survey.

The Claimant Count is based on administrative data from the benefits system. These data are experimental statistics.

Employment in the City of Edinburgh has increased compared with the previous year

The City of Edinburgh's employment rate was higher than across Scotland as a whole in the year ending December 2023.

Of people aged 16 to 64 years living in the City of Edinburgh, 82.1% were employed in the year ending December 2023. This is an increase compared with the year ending December 2022 when the local rate was 79.2%.

Across Scotland in the year ending December 2023, 74.7% of people aged 16 to 64 years were employed. This was slightly higher compared with the previous year, when 74.4% of people were employed.

Employment rates of areas in Scotland

Among those aged 16 to 64 years (%), year ending December 2013 to year ending December 2023

Figures are based on a small number of survey responses in each area and are less precise than national or regional estimates. Ranking, and changes in ranking, may be the result of sampling variability.

Overall, there were around 299,000 people aged 16 and over in the City of Edinburgh who were employed in the year ending December 2023. This is up from the previous year, when there were around 289,000 people aged 16 and over who were employed.

Local population changes mean that the numbers of people in each area who are employed, unemployed and economically inactive in this article may be under- or over-estimates.

Unemployment rose in the City of Edinburgh compared with the previous year

Unemployment estimates are modelled to improve their precision compared to those based only on responses provided via the Annual Population Survey.

Around 10,900 people aged 16 and over in the City of Edinburgh were unemployed in the year ending December 2023. This is a rate of 3.5%.

This was an increase compared with the year ending December 2022 when the unemployment rate was 2.3%.

Across Scotland, from the year ending December 2022 to the year ending December 2023, there was a slight increase in the unemployment rate from 3.4% to 3.5%.

Year on year, the number of people unemployed in Scotland rose from around 94,100 to around 96,400 over the same period.

Unemployment across Great Britain rose slightly between the year ending December 2022 and the year ending December 2023, going from around 1,180,000 people (3.6%) to around 1,240,000 (3.7%).

Unemployed people are those without jobs who are actively seeking work and available to take up a job. Some jobless people may not seek work or be able to work for various reasons, such as retirement, sickness, or study, and are called "economically inactive".

This means that the employment rate and the unemployment rate can both go up at the same time as people move into the labour market and become job seekers.

The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed people out of everyone "economically active" in the labour market, that is, everyone who is employed or looking for work. The employment rate is out of the working-age population including "economically inactive" people.

Highest unemployment rates (%) of areas in Scotland, with the City of Edinburgh for comparison

Among those aged 16 and over and active in the labour market, year ending December 2023

Claimant Count in the City of Edinburgh was slightly higher than in the previous year

The Claimant Count is an experimental statistic that measures the number of people who are claiming unemployment-related benefits.

The Claimant Count in the City of Edinburgh was 8980 in March 2024, up from March 2023, when there were 8730 claimants.

The proportion of people aged 16 to 64 years in the City of Edinburgh who were claiming unemployment-related benefits was 2.5% in March 2024, a slight increase compared with March 2023 when it was 2.4%.

Claimant Count (%) for areas in Scotland

Among those aged 16 to 64 years, March 2014 to March 2024

Economic inactivity has decreased in the City of Edinburgh compared with the previous year

Around 50,700 people or 14.2% of the population aged 16 to 64 years in the City of Edinburgh were "economically inactive" in the year ending December 2023. This compares with around 70,700 people (19.8%) in the year ending December 2022.

People are classed as "economically inactive" if they are not in employment but don't meet the criteria for being "unemployed". This means they have not been seeking work within the previous four weeks or were unable to start work within the next two weeks. Common reasons include being retired, looking after the home or family or being temporarily or long-term sick and disabled.

Economic inactivity in the City of Edinburgh is lower than across Scotland and Great Britain.

Across Scotland, 22.5% of people aged 16 to 64 years were economically inactive during the year ending December 2023, a slight decrease compared with the year ending December 2022 when 22.9% were economically inactive.

Overall in Great Britain, 21.2% of people aged 16 to 64 years were economically inactive, compared with 21.5% in the previous year.

Economic inactivity in the City of Edinburgh compared with Scotland

Residents aged 16 to 64 years (%), year ending December 2023

The estimate for the City of Edinburgh is based on a small number of survey responses and is less precise than national or regional estimates. Ranking may be the result of sampling variability.

More data about the City of Edinburgh

You can view and download more local labour market data on the the City of Edinburgh area profile page on Nomis.

Find more facts and figures about the City of Edinburgh.

More data on the labour market

The most recent labour market figures for all local authorities are in our associated data release.

You can also read our most recent labour market overview.

Historic data is available on Nomis. For employment and economic inactivity, see estimates from the Annual Population Survey. Data for model-based unemployment and Claimant Count (non-seasonally adjusted) are also available.

About this article

The content in this article is generated using semi-automated journalism, based on rules pre-programmed by Office for National Statistics (ONS) staff.

This is a new product in Beta release, intended to improve the accessibility of labour market data at local level. Leave us general feedback or contact the subnational analysis team by emailing subnational@ons.gov.uk.

Articles are not available for Isles of Scilly and City of London, as the survey samples of the resident population are too small.

Previous editions

This pilot release was originally published on October 5th 2023 and was updated with new data on November 9th 2023, February 2nd 2024, and May 14th 2024. For transparency, all data previously provided in the release are listed below.

Download data for previously published editions of Employment, unemployment and related statistics for your area, 150KB, XLSX.