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Scottish cities

Trend in economic inactivity rates across selected Scottish cities and Scotland
Econ inact Scot cities trnd

Economic inactivity in Glasgow has been consistently higher than the Scottish average in the last two decades and the rate in Glasgow was the highest among Scotland's major cities in 2022. Nevertheless, the rate of economic inactivity has reduced in Glasgow and is now much closer to the Scottish average.

Reason for economic inactivity in selected Scottish cities
Econ inact Scot cities reason

The reasons for economic inactivity differ between the Scottish cities. Glasgow has the highest proportion of people who are long-term sick, but Edinburgh and Dundee have the highest proportion of people who are inactive due to being a student.

Notes

Being economically inactive is an economical concept used by governments to describe those neither in employment nor unemployed. The official definition (from ONS) of being economically inactive is given below:

Economically inactive people are not in employment, but do not satisfy all the criteria for unemployment. This group is comprised of those who want a job but who have not been seeking work in the last four weeks, those who want a job and are seeking work but not available to start and those who do not want a job. For example, students not working or seeking work and those in retirement are classed as economically inactive.

This page was updated in July 2023.

Further reading under ‘Economic inactivity’