About this metric
People outside the labour force are those who neither have a job nor are looking for one. The chart shows how many of them are students and pupils, homemakers, pensioners and people with disabilities, or other jobless people, from 2008 to 2024.
In 2024 there were 938.6 thousand people outside the labour force, down from 962.3 thousand in 2008 and above the lowest figure of 785.1 thousand in 2016. The largest group in 2024 was pensioners and people with disabilities (291.1 thousand), just ahead of homemakers (286.8 thousand); students and pupils numbered 171.3 thousand and other jobless people 189.4 thousand.
Over the years the groups have changed places. Other jobless people fell from 298.8 thousand in 2008 to 189.4 thousand in 2024, and students from 219.3 to 171.3 thousand, while homemakers rose from 229.8 to 286.8 thousand and pensioners and people with disabilities from 214.4 to 291.1 thousand. The total jumps from 790.6 thousand in 2017 to 902.5 thousand in 2018, the year the survey methodology was revised.