Annual Population Survey: 2019

Employment

• The employment rate for the population aged 16 to 64 in Wales was 73.2%, broadly similar to the previous year. The employment rate in the UK was 75.6% (up 0.7 percentage points on the year).
• Since 2001, the employment rate increased by 6.1 percentage points in Wales and by 3.4 percentage points in the UK.
• The highest estimated employment rates were in Flintshire (79.4%), Monmouthshire (77.6%) and Isle of Anglesey (77.1%).
• The lowest estimated employment rates were in Ceredigion (65.1%), Rhondda Cynon Taf (67.9%) and Blaenau Gwent (68.7%).

Unemployment

• The unemployment rate for the population aged 16 and over in Wales was 4.1% (down 0.4 percentage points on the year). The unemployment rate in the UK was 3.9% (down 0.3 percentage points on the year).
• Since 2001, the unemployment rate fell by 1.4 percentage points in Wales and by 1.2 percentage points in the UK.
• The lowest estimated unemployment rates were in Monmouthshire (2.5%), Ceredigion (2.6%) and Flintshire (2.7%).
• The highest estimated unemployment rates were in Rhondda Cynon Taf (6.0%), Wrexham (6.0%) and Caerphilly (5.6%).

Youth unemployment

• The youth unemployment rate in Wales was 12.0%, above the UK rate of 11.3%.
• Since 2001, the youth unemployment rate fell by 2.2 percentage points in Wales and by 0.5 percentage points in the UK.

Long term unemployment

• 25.9% of unemployed people in Wales had been unemployed for 12 months or more. This compares with 24.3% in the UK.

Economic Inactivity (excluding students)

• The economic inactivity rate for the population aged 16 to 64 in Wales was 19.9% (up 0.2 percentage points on the year). The economic inactivity rate in the UK was 17.4% (down 0.3 percentage points on the year).
• Since 2001, the economic inactivity rate fell by 6.4 percentage points in Wales and by 4.0 percentage points in the UK.
• The lowest estimated economic inactivity rates were in Flintshire (15.4%), Cardiff (16.4%) and Monmouthshire (16.6%).
• The highest estimated economic inactivity rates were in Blaenau Gwent (25.2%), Rhondda Cynon Taf (23.6%) and Caerphilly (22.8%).

In this release, we have changed our headline figure for economic inactivity to exclude students. This is due to the disproportionate effect on areas with a high student density, which is more prominent at a sub-Wales level.