ONS chief Sir Ian Diamond confident in UK's rising health-related economic inactivity data

2025-03-29 09:35:08

Professor Sir Ian Diamond, the UK’s national statistician, has expressed strong confidence that the UK is experiencing a surge in health-related economic inactivity, despite doubts over data quality.

He stated that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) findings on health-related inactivity align with various other figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the NHS, all indicating an increase in inactivity due to ill health, as reported by City AM.

According to ONS data, the number of people economically inactive due to ill-health has risen to 2.8 million, up from 2.1 million in the last quarter of 2019.

"What we have reported, and what we stay with, is an increase in inactivity linked – not always, but often – to men