United Kingdom
UK desk: United Kingdom first; euro area, United States, Canada, Australia, Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand alongside.
−0.19 pp
As of 2025 | % of population ages 15+
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 61.37% |
| 2024 | 61.56% |
| 2023 | 61.81% |
| 2022 | 61.91% |
| 2021 | 61.97% |
| 2020 | 62.57% |
| 2019 | 62.62% |
| 2018 | 62.62% |
| 2017 | 62.41% |
| 2016 | 62.41% |
| 2015 | 62.25% |
| 2014 | 62.13% |
| 2013 | 62.01% |
| 2012 | 61.99% |
| 2011 | 61.78% |
| 2010 | 61.80% |
| 2009 | 61.99% |
| 2008 | 62.19% |
| 2007 | 61.94% |
| 2006 | 62.10% |
| 2005 | 61.67% |
| 2004 | 61.42% |
| 2003 | 61.37% |
| 2002 | 61.25% |
Labour force participation is the share of people ages 15 and over who are employed or unemployed (SL.TLF.CACT.ZS). It is not the unemployment rate. Latest: 61.37% in 2025.
A falling unemployment rate can coincide with people leaving the labour force. This series is the usual check. From 1990 to 2025 (36 years): mean 61.70%, median 61.81%; low 60.63% (1995), high 62.62% (2019).
Source: World Bank Open Data. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (terms).
This series is the labour-force participation rate for people aged 15 and over: the share who are either employed or unemployed and looking for work. The source is World Bank Open Data indicator SL.TLF.CACT.ZS, an ILO modelled estimate. It measures who is in the labour market, not what they earn, and it is not the same as the employment ratio: unemployed people count in the numerator here but not there.
Participation reflects retirement ages, education, caring responsibilities and social norms as well as job availability, so levels differ for reasons that have little to do with the unemployment rate. The series is modelled from national surveys and censuses and is revised periodically. Use the chart and range buttons to follow one economy and the ranked ledger to compare latest published years. Treat small cross-country gaps with caution, because the estimate carries uncertainty where survey coverage is thin. A fall can mean people left the labour force rather than lost work, so read it with the unemployment rate.
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.