FOI REF: FOI/2023/1045
You asked
With reference to the tweet (https://twitter.com/ONS/status/1651142241216348162), the total UK workforce has increased since the 1990s but so has the UK population. What percentage of the population were in the UK workforce in the 1990s and what percentage are in it now?
We said
Thank you for your query regarding the percentage of the population that were in the UK workforce in the 1990s compared with now.
The percentage of the population that were in the UK workforce is normally expressed in terms of an employment rate. Each month we publish the UK employment rate, expressed both in terms of the population aged 16 to 64 and the population aged 16 and over, in table A02 SA: Employment, unemployment and economic inactivity for people aged 16 and over and aged from 16 to 64 (seasonally adjusted), as part of the Employment in the UK release. This table includes data back to 1971.
In the 1990s the headline employment rate, based on those aged 16-64 years, ranged between 68.3% and 72.8%. The current employment rate stands at 75.8%. For those aged 16 and over, the rate in the 1990s ranged between 56.1% and 60.0%, while it currently stands at 61.1%.
The reference to the 1990s in the tweet was very general, because the UK workforce is currently larger than at any point in the 1990s, as is the percentage of the adult population in the UK workforce.