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Scottish cities

Workless households in selected Scottish cities, 2004-2021
Workless Scot cities trendGlasgow has had the highest rate of workless households among these cities for most of the last two decades. There has been a slight downward trend in this indicator in most cities from around 2012. In recent years, Edinburgh has had the lowest rate of workless households among Scottish cities.

Workless households in selected Scottish cities and Scotland, 2021
Workless Scot cities compIn 2021, Glasgow had the highest percentage of workless households (24%), double the rate in Edinburgh which had the lowest rate (11%) among the cities compared.

Notes

Workless households are households in which no-one aged 16 or over is in paid employment. This figure does not take into account unpaid work of any kind, including unpaid care work and household work. Those who are not in paid employment may be unemployed or unavailable to work because of family commitments, retirement or study, or they may be unable to work through sickness/disability.

This page was updated in July 2023.