What is the autism employment gap in the UK?

Only about 3 in 10 working-age autistic people in the UK are in work (around 31% in 2024/25, ONS), versus roughly 8 in 10 non-disabled people. That is a near 50-point employment gap, plus a 28% pay gap.

The current figure, and why it ranges

The headline depends on which Office for National Statistics (ONS) denominator you use, and the two official sources count slightly different groups. The Department for Work and Pensions figure puts the employment rate for people whose main health condition is autism at 31.4% in 2024/25, against 52.8% for all disabled people and 82.5% for non-disabled people. The House of Commons Library, counting disabled people who report autism, gives 34.0% for the same year. Both are current; the gap between them is the denominator, not a contradiction.

Watch out for the old number. The figure most top Google results still repeat, only 22% in any kind of work, comes from 2020 ONS analysis and is now superseded. If a source you are quoting in a board paper says 22% or 16%, it is five years out of date.

The pay gap on top of the jobs gap

Autistic employees who are in work face the widest pay gap of any condition group: 27.9% in 2023, against an overall disability pay gap of 12.7% (ONS, October 2024). Once you adjust for occupation, age and similar factors, that gap narrows to about 8%. In plain terms, the pay gap is driven less by what autistic people are paid for the same job and more by under-representation in senior and higher-paid roles.

The qualifier the headline drops

This is a barriers problem, not a willingness problem. Around 77% of unemployed autistic people told the National Autistic Society they want to work. The Buckland Review of Autism Employment (February 2024) is the employer-facing roadmap most headline stats omit: it found that half of managers reported discomfort about employing autistic people, and set out practical changes to recruitment, interviews and day-to-day support that close the gap.

For the wider context, the autism gap sits inside the broader disability employment gap, and the structured way to act on it is to work towards becoming a Disability Confident employer.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.