United Kingdom
UK desk: United Kingdom first; euro area, United States, Canada, Australia, Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand alongside.
−0.41 pp
As of 2025 | % of population ages 15+
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 58.46% |
| 2024 | 58.87% |
| 2023 | 59.32% |
| 2022 | 59.57% |
| 2021 | 58.96% |
| 2020 | 59.77% |
| 2019 | 60.34% |
| 2018 | 60.02% |
| 2017 | 59.60% |
| 2016 | 59.34% |
| 2015 | 58.79% |
| 2014 | 58.16% |
| 2013 | 57.20% |
| 2012 | 56.86% |
| 2011 | 56.72% |
| 2010 | 56.87% |
| 2009 | 57.23% |
| 2008 | 58.61% |
| 2007 | 58.60% |
| 2006 | 58.70% |
| 2005 | 58.65% |
| 2004 | 58.60% |
| 2003 | 58.42% |
| 2002 | 58.17% |
The employment-to-population ratio is employed people as a percent of the population ages 15+ (SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS). It does not condition on being in the labour force. Latest: 58.46% in 2025.
It moves with both jobs and demography. From 1991 to 2025 (35 years): mean 57.88%, median 58.17%; low 54.71% (1993), high 60.34% (2019).
Source: World Bank Open Data. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (terms).
This series is the employment-to-population ratio for people aged 15 and over: the share of that population who are employed. The source is World Bank Open Data indicator SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS, an ILO modelled estimate. It is not the unemployment rate. Students, retirees, people looking after a household and others outside the labour force are all in the denominator, so the ratio can fall even when unemployment is unchanged. The ratio also treats each employed person alike, whether they work an hour a week or a full year.
The indicator is modelled from national labour-force surveys and censuses and is revised when those inputs change. Population age structure and retirement ages differ between economies, so levels are not directly equivalent. The chart shows selected economies over the years you choose, and the ranked ledger shows each economy’s latest published year. Read the direction of travel and the broad level; small differences between neighbouring economies sit within the uncertainty of the estimates. Read it with the participation rate for context.
The UK desk places the United Kingdom first and shows the euro area, the United States, Germany, France, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand alongside, where the source covers them. It republishes the same World Bank ILO modelled estimates as the all-countries pages, filtered to this set, and does not recalculate the values for the desk. Taiwan is included only on the headline unemployment page, which uses the IMF World Economic Outlook because the World Bank does not publish a Taiwanese rate.
Move between desks with the Country selector, read the same numbers through the Chart and Table tabs, and use the range buttons to shorten the window. The indicator code, source and licence are printed on each page so a figure can be checked directly. An economy missing from a series is not covered by the source for that indicator.