Disability employment gap stands at 29.4 percentage points in new DWP report
DWP's report published on 4 November 2026 records a 53% employment rate for disabled people aged 16 to 64 in the UK in April to June 2026, compared with 82.4% for non-disabled people. The resulting gap is 29.4 percentage points. The publication is statistical evidence, not a new legal requirement.
New publication, earlier reference period
The Department for Work and Pensions published its annual report on the employment of disabled people on 4 November 2026. For April to June 2026, the employment rate among disabled people aged 16 to 64 in the United Kingdom was 53%, compared with 82.4% among non-disabled people. The disability employment gap was therefore 29.4 percentage points.
Those figures describe an important labour market disparity, but their legal significance must be stated carefully. The publication does not introduce a new employment right, create a recruitment quota or establish a new tribunal test. It supplies evidence about employment outcomes across a population. The legal duties affecting an individual employer continue to depend on the applicable legislation and the circumstances of the particular worker or applicant.
Understanding the three headline numbers
The 53% figure is the proportion of disabled people aged 16 to 64 who were in employment. The 82.4% figure is the corresponding proportion among non-disabled people in that age group. Subtracting the first rate from the second gives the 29.4 percentage point gap.
A percentage point difference is not the same as a percentage change. Describing this as a '29.4% gap' would lose the precision of the published measure and could suggest a different calculation. The correct wording is that the employment rates differ by 29.4 percentage points.