UK disability statistics: Prevalence and life experiences, August 2023

This briefing brings together disability data from a range of sources, providing information on the size and characteristics of the UK's disabled population, and highlighting disparities between the life experiences of disabled and non-disabled people.

How many people have a disability?

The latest estimates from the Department for Work and Pensions’ Family Resources Survey indicate that 16.0 million people in the UK had a disability in the 2021/22 financial year. This represents 24% of the total population.

The proportion of the population reporting a disability has risen by 6 percentage points since 2002/03, up from 18%. Most of this increase has been observed over the past decade, with disability prevalence up by 5 percentage points from 19% in 2010/11.

The prevalence of disability rises with age: in 2021/22 around 11% of children in the UK were disabled, compared to 23% of working-age adults and 45% of adults over State Pension age. Most people aged 80 and over reported a disability (58%).

More at https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9602/

 

23% of working-age adults disabled is surprising.

 

I don't know, looking at the disability criteria I can see it being that. I do think it would be more useful if they broke it down into working and non working groups though.