Unemployment rate by London borough (2023 Q1 and 2024 Q1)
Last updated: September 2024
Next update: April 2025
What does this indicator show?
A person is considered ‘unemployed’ if they are out of work, but looking for or available to work. This indicator shows the unemployment rate - the proportion of economically active people (that is those either employed or unemployed) age 16+ who are unemployed - in each London borough. View a map of the data at the bottom of the page.
What does it tell us?
The unemployment rate varies across London boroughs with the highest rates in 2024 Q1 around 3 percentage points higher as the lowest. Barking and Dagenham (7.0%), Hillingdon (6.8%) and Camden (6.6%) contrast with Hackney, Southwark, and Harrow (all 4.1%).
How this has changed in the last year
Unemployment rate 1 year change (2023 Q1 and 2024 Q1)
Compared to the previous year, most boroughs saw increases, some quite large - Hillingdon, Camden, Islington, Westminster, Sutton, Richmond upon Thames and Kingston upon Thames all saw increases of 2.5 percentage points or more. A few boroughs saw decreases, notably Waltham Forest, Brent and Hackney - all decreasing by more than 1 percentage point.
A map of London's unemployment rate
Unemployment rate (2024 Q1)
The figures presented here for the London boroughs are modelled estimates of unemployment for the 12 months to December of each year. The figure for the London average is based on responses to the Annual Population Survey.
Want to know more?
If you want to explore this data in more depth, check the 'data source and notes' button on the above charts. This will tell you where the data comes from, where you may be able to dig deeper.