Ethnicity in context, labour market overview

There were just over 6m people of working age in the UK that were from BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) groups in 2022 - i.e. 15% of the total working age population at that time.

Amongst the BAME population, 69% were in work, 26% were classed as ‘inactive’ and 5% were unemployed (compared with figures of 77%, 21% and 3% respectively for those of white ethnicity).

Ethnicity and economic activity of the working aged population (2022)

Source: Analysis of ONS Quarterly Labour Force Survey by BCS
* includes a small number of individuals in work but not as employees / self-employed (i.e., <1% of the total)

The proportion of individuals in work accounted for by BAME groups was also 15% during 2022 as was the case for employees (13%) and a similar level for the self-employed workers (14%).

Unfortunately, however, the level of representation for BAME groups was much higher when considering individuals that were either unemployed (i.e. 28% of the total) or economically inactive (19%).