We use cookies on our website to track and enhance your user experience. For more information or to update your cookie settings, please refer to our cookie policy.

AcceptDecline
Skip to Content

Glasgow

Employment rate among people with and without a disability in Glasgow and Scotland
Chart showing employment rates in Glasgow and Scotland between 2004 and 2023, split into disabled and non-disabled population groups. In Glasgow in 2023, 56.9% of people with a disability were in employment. This was slightly higher than the Scottish rate of 54.2%, but 20.5 percentage points lower than the employment rate for non-disbled Glaswegians. Across Scotland, this gap was even wider – at 28.9 percentage points.

The employment rate for people with a disability in both Glasgow and Scotland had risen over the time period shown and the gap had narrowed somewhat between the rate for disabled and non-disabled people. 

Employment rate among people from and not from an ethnic minority in Glasgow and Scotland

Chart showing the employment rate in Glasgow and Scotland between 2004 and 2023 for ethnic minority and non-ethnic minority groups. In 2023, 54.5% of all adults from a minority ethnic group in Glasgow were employed. This is 20.7 percentage points lower than the employment rate for people not from an ethnic minority in Glasgow (75.2%). The rate of employment among adults from a minority ethnic group in Scotland was 62%, 13.8 percentage points lower than the rate for people in Scotland who were not from an ethnic minority.

Rates have risen for all groups shown over this time period, although not steadily. The gap in employment rates between Glasgow and Scotland was much smaller for those not from an ethnic minority than it was for those from an ethnic minority by 2023. 

Employment rate by age group in Glasgow

Chart showing employment rates in Glasgow between 2004 and 2023, split into age groups. The employment rate in Glasgow varied by age group. Adults over 65 consistently had the lowest level of employment – with 6% of adults over 65 in employment in 2023. 

Looking at those younger than retirement age, the youngest – those aged 16-19 – had the lowest levels of employment of anyone under 65 for most of the time period shown, although they had risen in 2023, to 46.7%, just less than the rate for people aged 20-24. 

The highest employment rates by age were consistently for the age groups 25-34 and 35-49, with 85.8% of 25-34 year olds and 75.1% of 25-49 year olds in employment in 2023.

Rates increased between 2004 and 2023 for almost all groups, but some increased more steeply than others. For example, just under half (48%) of those aged 50-64 were in employment in 2004, compared to 70.5% in 2023. In contrast, employment rates had dropped for those aged 20-24, from 62.5 in 2004 to 47.7 in 2023. 

Notes

The Annual Population Survey's disability category includes people with a long-term condition which substantially limits their day-to-day activities (Equality Act Core disabled), and those who have a long-term disability which affects the kind or amount of work they might do (work-limiting disabled).

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) definition of employment is anyone (aged 16 or over) who does at least one hour’s paid work in the week prior to their LFS interview, or has a job that they are temporarily away from (e.g. on holiday). Also included are people who do unpaid work in a family business and people on government supported employment training schemes, in line with ILO definitions.

The headline employment rate is the proportion of the working-age population who are in employment. The working-age population comprises men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59 and therefore takes account of the school-leaving age but does not align completely with the state pension age, which has risen in recent years.

The APS definition of 'ethnic minority' includes anyone who does not categorise themselves as 'white'. 

This page was updated in February 2025.

Further reading under ‘Employment’