Economy

6.4% of people aged 16 to 64 in the UK were economically inactive because of long-term sickness in May to July 2026: 2.78 million people

People aged 16 to 64 who are not in work or looking for work because they are long-term sick, as a share of everyone aged 16 to 64 and in millions, UK, rolling three months, 1993 to 2026. Seasonally adjusted.

Latest figures

Findings

• 720,000 more people aged 16 to 64 were out of work through long-term sickness in May to July 2026 than in the same months of 2019

Notes

• People are economically inactive if they are not in work and have not looked for work in the last four weeks or cannot start within two weeks. Each is counted under the main reason they give; here, that they are long-term sick or disabled. Temporary sickness is counted separately.
• The share is the number inactive due to long-term sickness divided by the ONS's estimate of all people aged 16 to 64, both from the same release of the Labour Force Survey.
• Figures come from the Labour Force Survey, a sample survey of households, and each covers three months, seasonally adjusted. The ONS recommends comparing a period with the previous non-overlapping three months (April to June with January to March, not with March to May).
• The survey's response rate has fallen since 2020. The ONS changed how it collects and weights the survey from January 2024; figures from January to March 2025 include the full effect, and some volatility remains in estimates for mid-2023 and 2024. The ONS advises focusing on long-term movements rather than short-term changes.
• Figures from January to March 2019 onwards were reweighted, which causes a step change in the series.

Sources

• Office for National Statistics, Labour market statistics: economic inactivity by reason, long-term sick (INAC01, LF69) and population aged 16 to 64 (LF2O)

More on economy

• The UK economy was 1.4% larger in April to June 2026 than a year earlier
• GDP per person was £42,493 in the year to June 2026, in 2024 prices
• Real household disposable income was £26,154 per person in the year to June 2026, in 2024 prices
• Consumer prices rose 3.1% in the year to August 2026
• The unemployment rate was 4.9% in May to July 2026
• 75.1% of people aged 16 to 64 were in work in May to July 2026
• 13.0% of people aged 16 to 24 in the UK were not in education, employment or training in April to June 2026: 981,000 young people
• Average weekly pay after inflation was 0.9% higher in May to July 2026 than a year earlier
• There were 702,000 job vacancies in the UK in June to August 2026