Official Statistics

Universal Credit statistics, 29 April 2013 to 11 April 2024

Official statistics for the number of claims, starts, people and households on Universal Credit.

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Documents

Data tables: Universal Credit ethnicity statistics

Universal Credit data tables (on Stat-Xplore)

Details

These official statistics contain data on:

  • the number of people who made a claim or started on Universal Credit to April 2024
  • the number of people who are on Universal Credit to April 2024
  • the number of households who are on Universal Credit to January 2024

Further information

Universal Credit claims and starts breakdowns by postcode are no longer available from April 2022 onwards, due to missing geography data. The missing information has been captured and action is being taken to reinstate these breakdowns in future releases. Updates will be provided via Stat-Xplore and the GOV.UK website.

Read the background information and methodology note for guidance on these statistics, such as timeliness, uses, and procedures.

Interactive tools

Software used for the interactive maps is no longer supported. These showed households on Universal Credit at the local authority level and people on Universal Credit at Jobcentre Plus level.

The interactive maps have therefore been withdrawn and a replacement is currently under development. Once completed and launched, the interactive tool (called Examine-a-Stat) will have improved functionality, including interactive maps, to better meet a wider range of user needs. It will be available in due course and the statistics are currently accessible on Stat-Xplore.

Pre-release access

In addition to staff who are responsible for the production and quality assurance of the statistics, up to 24-hour pre-release access is provided to ministers and other officials. We publish the job titles and organisations of the people who have been granted up to 24-hour pre-release access to the latest Universal Credit statistics.

Updates to this page

Published 14 May 2024
Last updated 23 October 2024 + show all updates
  1. Replaced figure 9 in "Universal Credit childcare element statistics, March 2021 to February 2024". The label on the horizontal access has changed from ages 11 to 16 to ages 12 to 16.

  2. Updated the Universal Credit statistics, 29 April 2013 to 11 April 2024 - the paragraph about the number of people on Universal Credit in the ‘searching for work’ conditionality regime has been revised. This now reads 1.5 million in April 2024, not 15 million as originally stated.

  3. First published.

Sign up for emails or print this page