Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment was 29,586 Persons in 2025. ▲ Rising
Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1979–2025
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Persons.
Analysis
The most recent figure for number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is 29,586 Persons, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 47 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.6% on the previous year and up 11.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland peaked at 29,586 Persons in 2025 and was at its lowest, 21,092 Persons, in 1983.
That places United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 7th out of 33 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 47 years of available data.
Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, year by year
| Year | Persons | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 23,155 Persons | — |
| 1980 | 22,790 Persons | -1.6% |
| 1981 | 21,826 Persons | -4.2% |
| 1982 | 21,320 Persons | -2.3% |
| 1983 | 21,092 Persons | -1.1% |
| 1984 | 21,272 Persons | +0.9% |
| 1985 | 21,416 Persons | +0.7% |
| 1986 | 21,388 Persons | -0.1% |
| 1987 | 21,672 Persons | +1.3% |
| 1988 | 22,320 Persons | +3.0% |
| 1989 | 22,722 Persons | +1.8% |
| 1990 | 22,834 Persons | +0.5% |
| 1991 | 22,208 Persons | -2.7% |
| 1992 | 21,646 Persons | -2.5% |
| 1993 | 21,402 Persons | -1.1% |
| 1994 | 21,524 Persons | +0.6% |
| 1995 | 21,860 Persons | +1.6% |
| 1996 | 22,194 Persons | +1.5% |
| 1997 | 22,742 Persons | +2.5% |
| 1998 | 23,182 Persons | +1.9% |
| 1999 | 23,606 Persons | +1.8% |
| 2000 | 23,976 Persons | +1.6% |
| 2001 | 24,184 Persons | +0.9% |
| 2002 | 24,406 Persons | +0.9% |
| 2003 | 24,459 Persons | +0.2% |
| 2004 | 24,688 Persons | +0.9% |
| 2005 | 24,999 Persons | +1.3% |
| 2006 | 25,197 Persons | +0.8% |
| 2007 | 25,346 Persons | +0.6% |
| 2008 | 25,574 Persons | +0.9% |
| 2009 | 25,090 Persons | -1.9% |
| 2010 | 25,016 Persons | -0.3% |
| 2011 | 25,115 Persons | +0.4% |
| 2012 | 25,212 Persons | +0.4% |
| 2013 | 25,512 Persons | +1.2% |
| 2014 | 25,958 Persons | +1.7% |
| 2015 | 26,503 Persons | +2.1% |
| 2016 | 26,772 Persons | +1.0% |
| 2017 | 27,068 Persons | +1.1% |
| 2018 | 27,498 Persons | +1.6% |
| 2019 | 27,777 Persons | +1.0% |
| 2020 | 27,836 Persons | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 28,191 Persons | +1.3% |
| 2022 | 28,560 Persons | +1.3% |
| 2023 | 28,817 Persons | +0.9% |
| 2024 | 29,121 Persons | +1.1% |
| 2025 | 29,586 Persons | +1.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 23,155 Persons | 23,155 Persons | 23,155 Persons | 1 |
| 1980s | 21,782 Persons | 21,092 Persons | 22,790 Persons | 10 |
| 1990s | 22,320 Persons | 21,402 Persons | 23,606 Persons | 10 |
| 2000s | 24,792 Persons | 23,976 Persons | 25,574 Persons | 10 |
| 2010s | 26,243 Persons | 25,016 Persons | 27,777 Persons | 10 |
| 2020s | 28,685 Persons | 27,836 Persons | 29,586 Persons | 6 |
Countries ranked near United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- 4 Japan 61,850 Persons compare
- 4 Lithuania 1,294 Persons compare
- 5 Mexico 41,026 Persons compare
- 5 Slovenia 858.15 Persons compare
- 6 Germany 38,822 Persons compare
- 6 Latvia 755.08 Persons compare
- 7 Estonia 615.5 Persons compare
- 8 France 25,340 Persons compare
- 9 Canada 19,350 Persons compare
- 10 Spain 18,933 Persons compare
More work & labour data for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 22,956 (2027)
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 60.91 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 35,770 (2027)
- Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) 4.93 (2027)
- Labour dependency ratio 1.07 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2021 international $ at PPP 111,361 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2015 US $ 100,223 (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 57.91 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) 1.47 % change on previous year (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate 0.4352 % change on previous year (2027)
All data for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland →
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
- Number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was 29,586 Persons in 2025, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment recorded in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 29,586 Persons in 2025.
- What is the lowest number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment recorded in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 21,092 Persons in 1983.
- How does United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland rank for number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment?
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ranks 7th out of 33 countries with data for 2025.
- Is number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment rising or falling in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 11.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 47 observations, free to reuse under OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required).
About this data
The dataflow "Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4)" is a subset of the “Employment by activites and status (ALFS)” dataset which presents annual labour force statistics for OECD member countries, Brazil and 4 geographical areas (Major Seven, Euro zone, European Union and OECD-Total). This dataflow shows the number of employees broken down by economic activities (ISIC Rev. 4). Economic activities are defined according to the Major divisions of the International standard International Classification (ISIC) Rev. 4 with the exception of the United-States wich compiled since 2003, employment data by sector following the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS); NAICS sector are then proxied to ISIC Rev. 4 and are therefore not strictly comparable with other countries’ data. The professional status is defined in the International Classification by status in Employment (ICSE-1993). Data are presented in thousands of persons, or as indices with base year 2015=100. Annual data in this dataset are typically calculated as averages of infra-annual estimates. This can lead to differences with annual data published by National Statistics Institutes. Historical data of employment statistics defined according to ISIC Rev. 2 are also available from 1970 to 2014 Historical data of employment statistics defined according to ISIC Rev. 3 are available from 1983 to 2023. Data for Canada are currently only available in ISIC Rev. 3