London claimant count


The ONS Claimant Count measure provides a timely measure of unemployment for London local authorities by sex and by age. It is the number of people claiming benefits principally for the reason of being unemployed. It includes people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and those claiming Universal Credit who are required to seek work.

The Claimant Count rate expresses this number as a share of the 16-64 population.

Note that Claimant Count numbers are affected by the rollout, starting in May, of a higher administrative earnings threshold for full work-search conditionality. This change is likely to affect around 180,000 claimants in the UK over six months, raising the Claimant Count figure over that time.

  • In the month up to September 2024, the non-seasonally adjusted claimant count rose by 9,970 (2.9%).

  • On the year, the claimant count was up by 63,900 (21.6%).

  • From March 2020 to September 2024, the claimant count rose from 187,000 to 360,000 (92%), nearly doubling.

The following sections present a breakdown of the latest data for people living in local authorities in London.

Only non-seasonally adjusted data is available at the local level. We therefore use non seasonally adjusted data throughout this briefing for consistency.

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Source: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted (NSA).

Note: March 2020 indicated by dotted line. Rounded counts shown here may differ to calculations in text based on underlying data.


Regional comparison


The claimant count rate varies between the regions and countries of the UK.

  • The region/country with the highest claimant count rate in September 2024 was London (5.9%), just above the West Midlands (5.8%). The lowest rate was in South West (2.9%).

  • London and the West Midlands were already the two regions with the highest rates in September 2023, but in both cases, that rate was 1pp lower than in September 2024.

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Source: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted (NSA).


Claimant count by London local authority


Across London local authorities in September 2024:

  • Newham had the highest claimant rate at 8.4%, followed by Barking and Dagenham at 8.2% and Brent (8.0%). The lowest rates outside the City of London were Richmond-upon-Thames (2.6%), Kingston-upon-Thames (3.4%) and Bromley (3.5%).

  • Newham had the highest claimant count level at 21,100, followed by Brent (18,800) and Ealing (17,600). By contrast, aside from the City of London, there were 3,280 claimants in Richmond-upon-Thames, 3,730 in Kingston-upon-Thames, and 3,880 in Kensington & Chelsea.

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Claimant rate

Source: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted. Contains Ordnance Survey data Crown copyright and database rights [2015].


Number of claimants

Source: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted. Contains Ordnance Survey data Crown copyright and database rights [2015].


Changes by local authority


Between September 2023 and September 2024:

  • The boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and Enfield saw the highest absolute increases in the claimant count. They saw increases of 4,380 (26%), 4,200 (32%), and 4,000 (32%), respectively.

  • The local authorities with the highest percentage point increases in the claimant rate were Enfield (1.9pp), Tower Hamlets (1.8pp), Brent (1.7pp).

  • Across London, the claimant rate increased by 0.9pp on the year for men and increased by 1.2pp for women.

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Change in claimant count

Source: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted.


Change in claimant rate

Source: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted.


Changes by age group


The change in claimant count by age group varies significantly across local authorities. On the year (excl. City of London):

  • Aged 16-24: Ealing saw the highest percentage change at 29%.

  • Aged 25-49: Enfield saw the highest percentage change at 37%.

  • Aged 50+: Harrow saw the highest percentage change at 46%.

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Source: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted.

Note: Excludes City of London


Claimant data by sub-region


The tables below provide detailed breakdowns of claimant count statistics for each London local authority, grouped by their respective London sub-regional partnership areas.

The ranks are assigned across all local authorities rather than within sub-regional partnerships.

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Central London Forward

Source: Claimant count by sex and age (via Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted and the figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Notes: Local authorities are ranked within London overall (not by sub-region); claimant rates for sub-regions have been calculated using aggregated local authority data.


Local London

Source: Claimant count by sex and age (via Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted and the figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Notes: Local authorities are ranked within London overall (not by sub-region); claimant rates for sub-regions have been calculated using aggregated local authority data.


South London Partnership

Source: Claimant count by sex and age (via Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted and the figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Notes: Local authorities are ranked within London overall (not by sub-region); claimant rates for sub-regions have been calculated using aggregated local authority data.


West London Alliance

Source: Claimant count by sex and age (via Nomis) – data is not seasonally adjusted and the figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Notes: Local authorities are ranked within London overall (not by sub-region); claimant rates for sub-regions have been calculated using aggregated local authority data.


Notes on the Claimant Count


The ONS has published its latest figures for September 2024 for the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits - the ONS Claimant Count. This briefing presents the latest statistics for local authorities in London.

The claimant count is the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance plus people claiming Universal Credit who are required to seek work. It is a timely source of data for tracking changes in the labour market at a local level, although many new claimants will not be wholly unemployed, partly due to changes in Universal Credit eligibility*. Some claimants will be unemployed and seeking work, others may be temporarily inactive or away from work, or employed but with low earnings. For more information see here.

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*Under Universal Credit, a broader span of claimants are also required to look for work than under Jobseeker’s Allowance. The DWP Alternative Claimant Count series adjusts for this over time. However, that series is less timely than the ONS Claimant Count and the differences between the two are modest for recent periods.