Local Inactivity
Local inactivity rates vary between 8.7% and 35.3%
Range of inactivity rates within English regions and GB countries, April 2008 to March 2009
Differences in economic inactivity rates in local areas within regions are greater than differences between regions. In the 12 months ending March 2009, the region with the greatest difference between the highest and lowest working-age inactivity rates was the North West.
The highest and lowest working-age inactivity rates were separated by 21.9 percentage points in local authorities in the North West. Liverpool, at 35.3 per cent, has the highest working-age inactivity rate, while the lowest working-age inactivity rate is 13.9 per cent, in Ribble Valley. Liverpool also has the highest local authority inactivity rate in Great Britain.
St. Edmundsbury has the lowest inactivity rate of any area in Great Britain at 8.7 per cent.
Of all the English regions and countries in Great Britain, the narrowest spread of working-age inactivity rates occurs in Wales, with 12.8 percentage points between the lowest working-age inactivity rate within the region, in Flintshire (17.9 per cent), and the highest, in Ceredigion (30.7 per cent).
In comparison, at regional level, there are 6.7 percentage points between the lowest inactivity rate for the South East at 17.5 per cent, and the highest inactivity rate, with London and Wales both at 24.2 per cent.
Source: Annual Population Survey, Office for National Statistics
These estimates come from the Annual Population Survey, which is compiled on a 12 month basis every quarter, from the main Labour Force Survey, together with additional interviews in England, Wales and Scotland. National and regional estimates from the main LFS are published each month in the Labour Market Statistical Bulletin.
Working-age is defined as males aged between 16 and 64 and females aged between 16 and 59.
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