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UK cities

Employment rates for selected UK cities, UK and Scotland, 2004 - 2022
Employ UK cities trendEmployment rates have fluctuated over the last two decades but have risen in most cities over the last ten years. The employment rate in Glasgow has risen from a low point in 2012 (58%) to 72% in 2022.

Employment rates for selected UK cities, UK and Scotland, 2022
Employ UK cities compGlasgow's employment rate (72.1%) is mid-ranking among this selection of UK cities, and below the Scottish and UK rates.

Percentage in full-time employment, aged 16-64 in selected UK cities, Scotland and UK, 2022

FT employed UK CitiesIn Glasgow, 78% of working-age people in employment work full-time, which is above the Scottish average (75%) and the UK average (76%).

Job density: the number of jobs per working-age resident and is used as indicator of labour demand. A job density greater than one indicates that there is more than one job per person for the working age population. Glasgow has consistently had a job density slightly higher than one over the last two decades; in 2021, Glasgow's job density was 1.03. Job density has risen in Manchester in the last decade to 1.23 in 2021, the highest level among UK cities outside of London. Birmingham, Liverpool and Sheffield have consistently had low job density over the last two decades.

Employment rates by gender in selected UK cities, Scotland and UK, 2022
Employ UK cities gender compIn 2022, male employment rates were higher than female employment rates in Scotland, in the UK and in most of the selected UK cities, with the exception of Edinburgh. Nottingham had the lowest female employment rate (55%) of the cities compared, while Edinburgh had the highest female employment rate (80%).

Migrant workers as a percentage of total in employment aged 16-64 in selected UK cities and Scotland, 2022

Migrant employment UK citiesIn 2022, workers born outside the UK made up 22% of the workforce in Glasgow, higher than the UK (19%) and Scottish average (14%). The cities with the highest percentage of migrant workers were Edinburgh and Nottingham (both 33%).

Notes

The Annual Population Survey (APS) combines results from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the English, Welsh and Scottish Labour Force Survey boosts. It is the primary source for information on local labour markets, providing headline estimates on employment, unemployment and economic activity, and is the largest annual household survey in Scotland.

The 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 full-time/part-time split is based on respondent self-classification. Respondents are asked whether they work full-time or part-time in their main job.

The measure of migrant workers used is defined as: people in employment who were not born in the UK, expressed as a percentage of all people in employment in an area.  

This page was updated in July 2023.

Further reading under ‘Employment’