Disability Employment Statistics: UK and Europe (2023/24)

United Kingdom

Employment Rate

• Disability employment gap: 29.2 percentage points (82.0% non-disabled vs. 52.8% disabled, ONS Labour Force Survey Q3 2023)
• The gap has narrowed from 34 points in 2013 but progress has stalled since 2020
• Government target: close the gap by 1 million people by 2027 (Improving Lives, 2017)

Workforce Composition

• 7.7 million working-age disabled people in the UK (22% of working-age population)
• 4.3 million disabled people in employment
• 3.4 million disabled people who want to work but are not employed

Pay

• 17.2% median disability pay gap (disabled vs. non-disabled, ONS 2023)
• Disabled women face a combined gap of approximately 36%
• Disabled people are 2x more likely to be in the lowest earnings quintile

Sector Distribution

Over-represented: Social care, retail, hospitality, public administration

Under-represented: Financial services, technology, professional services, senior management