Employment rate for 50 to 64s reaches 71.6% in 2025

The employment rate for people aged 50 to 64 years was 71.6% in 2025, having increased by 0.7 percentage points over the past year. The economic inactivity rate for this age group was 26.1% in 2025, down from 27.3% in 2024. The unemployment rate for those aged 50 to 64 increased to 3.1% in 2025 from 2.4% in 2024. The average age of exit from the labour market reached 65.8 years for men and 64.7 years for women in 2025, the highest recorded levels on ONS data since annual reporting began in 1984.

The Department for Work and Pensions published these figures on 30 September 2025 in Economic labour market status of individuals aged 50 and over, trends over time: September 2025, using data from the Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey covering the period up to April to June 2025.