Economic labour market status of individuals aged 50 and over latest statistics - 2nd October 2025

The latest DWP publication showing the trends over time in the economic labour market status of individuals aged 50 and over.

This publication details the trends over time, the economic labour market status of individuals aged 50, with comparisons  against 35 to 49-year-olds. Analysis is provided on the three headline measures used to monitor progress:

1. Employment rate of people aged 50 years and over, by five-year age bands and gender.

2. Average age of exit from the labour market, by gender.

3. Employment rate gap between people aged 50 to 64 and people aged 35 to 49 years, broken down by five-year age band and gender.

In addition to the measures outlined above, analysis is provided on wider characteristics of those aged 50 and over such as data on economic inactivity rates, reasons for inactivity, employment by industrial sector and region, employment by ethnicity and education as well as working patterns. When interpreting results, particularly comparing time periods, the Government points out that users should be aware of the potential effect of COVID-19 from 2020. 

This is an annual release, and the next release will be in September 2026. 

The main stories are:

• the employment rate for 50 to 64-year-olds decreased each year from a record high of 72.6% in 2019 (before the COVID pandemic) to 70.4% in 2022, from where it has increased each year since. There has been a small increase in this figure of 0.7% to 71.6% over the past 12 months.

• the employment rate gap between people aged 35 and 49 years and 50 to 64 years, has stayed approximately the same in 2025 (14.1%) as in 2024 (14.2%). This is due to an increase in the employment rate of people aged between 50 and 64 years and a smaller increase in the employment rate for those aged 35 to 49 years.

• of the countries in the UK, Wales had the lowest employment rate among those aged 50 to 64 years at 63.5%, with the highest employment rate in England at 72.4%. Wales has seen an increase in the employment rate of those aged 50 to 64 years from 2024 to 2025, with the employment rate increasing by 3.3% points.

• the employment rate gap between individuals with no qualifications and those holding any type of qualification was larger than any employment rate gap observed between the levels of qualification obtained. For example, the employment rate gap between individuals aged 50 to 64 years with no qualifications and those with ‘GCSE grades A-C or equivalent’ was 22.2% in 2025. This is statistically significantly larger than the employment rate gap between those with ‘GCSE grades A-C or equivalent’ and degree level qualifications, with the gap standing at 9.5% in 2025.

• the average age of exit from the labour market has increased for both men and women over the past year, once again reaching the highest recorded level on Office for National Statistics (ONS) data since annual reporting began in 1984, though this year’s increase is smaller than that between 2023 and 2024. In 2024, the average age of exit for men was aged 65.7years, increasing by 0.1 years to 65.8 years in 2025. The 2024 average age of exit for women was 64.6 years and has increased by 0.1 years to 64.7 years in 2025.

• the 2025 inactivity rate for 50 to 64-year-olds still remains higher than the pre-pandemic rate, which was 25.5% in 2019, but has decreased by 1.2% from 27.3% in 2024 to 26.1% in 2025.

• the inactivity rate continues to be higher for women aged 50 to 64 at 30.0% in 2025, compared with 22.0% for men of the same age.

• being sick, injured or disabled continues to be the main reason why people aged 50 to 64 years are economically inactive in the labour market. This was the main reason given by 44.7% of inactive adults.

• of economically inactive people aged 50 to 64 years, women (18.1%) were twice as likely as men (7.7%) to report ‘looking after home or family’ as the main reason for not looking for work, a statistically significant difference. Meanwhile, the proportion of men giving the main reason as ‘retired’ (32.5%%) was statistically significantly higher than women (26.9%).

• the State Pension Age (SPA) has a statistically significant impact on employment and inactivity rates of older adults. Between ages 65 and 66 the employment rate decreases by 12.8% and the inactivity rate increases by a similar proportion (13.9%).

• the rate of unemployment for 50 to 64-year-olds has increased by 0.7%, from 2.4% in 2024 to 3.1% in 2025. The unemployment rate for this age group has been fluctuating, though generally on a downward trend, over the past ten years, with lows of 2.4% in 2024 and 2.6% in 2022.

• the gap between 50 to 64-year-olds and 35 to 49-year-olds who are long term unemployed has significantly reduced from 4.4% to 1.6% over the last 12 months.

• around 876,000 individuals aged 50 to 64 are either actively seeking work, or are inactive but are willing or would like to work.

The Government has added that recent trends in employment should also be considered in the context of changes to SPA. Since 2010, women’s SPA gradually increased from 60 years, rising to 65 years by November 2018, at which point it equalled men’s SPA. In October 2020, SPA for both men and women increased to 66 years. The 2023 State Pension Age Review concluded that the planned increase in SPA from 66 to 67 will take place between 2026 and 2028. A further review of SPA will be conducted within two years of the current Parliament to consider age 68.

Working age is recognised internationally as people aged 16 to 64 years, whereby the SPA in the UK was formerly the upper limit. To understand trends over time, this release will continue to report on the 50 to 64 age group. However, data on people aged 50 to 65 years and more detailed tables containing statistics used in this release can be viewed in the tables accompanying this release.

In this report, employment and other labour market concepts used are defined in the same way as National Statistics published by the ONS in their Labour Market Overview. The ONS definitions can be found on the ONS website. Everybody aged 16 or over is defined as either employed, unemployed or economically inactive. Employed is defined as being in work, including those working part-time and those who are self-employed. Economic inactivity is defined as not working, have not been looking for work within the last four weeks or who are unable to start work within the next two weeks. Examples of economically inactive people include: people not looking for work because they are students; looking after the family or home; because of illness or disability; or because they have retired. Unemployment is defined as not working, have been looking for work within the last four weeks and are able to start work within the next two weeks. A common misconception is that the unemployment statistics are a count of people on benefits; this is not the case, as they include unemployed people not claiming benefits.

The average age of exit from the labour market is broken down for men and women due to the historic difference of SPA for men and women. In 1950, the average age of exit of men was aged 67.2 years. The average age of exit for men fell until 1980, when there was a change to the data source. Details of the change can be found in the background information and methodology. Since this point, the average age of exit for men has been steadily increasing.

In 2025, the average age of exit for men from the labour market was aged 65.8 years, the highest figure ever recorded since using ONS data and an increase of 0.1 years compared to 2024.

The average exit age for females in 1950 was 63.9 years, with the average age of exit for women falling to its lowest ever of 60.3 years in 1986. Since then, the average age of exit for women has increased by 4.4 years to 64.7 years in 2025, the highest level recorded since using ONS data.Between 2009 (before the change to SPA for women) and 2018, the period in which SPA for women incrementally increased from age 60 to 65 years to equal the SPA for men, the average age of exit for women increased by 1.5 years, from 62.4 to 63.9 years. The average age of exit of women continued to increase by 0.4 years to 64.3 years in 2020, when SPA for men and women increased to 66 years. Since 2021 the average age of exit for women has followed a similar upward trend to men, rising from 64.1 in 2021 to 64.7 in 2025. This includes an increase of 0.1 years over the past year from 64.6 years in 2024 to 64.7 years in 2025.

Source: Techlink Professional. This is a news bulletin and is up-to-date as of the date of publishing. Please check the publishing date at the top of the article.