Quick facts
- The City of Oxford is home to around 4,730 businesses, collectively employing approximately 118,000 people. In addition self-employment and the armed forces account for another 13,000 jobs bringing the total number of jobs in the local economy to 135,000 jobs
- The city has a large number of people employed in universities and the public sector, but also has significant jobs in other sectors including publishing, tourism, hospitality and a growing hi-tech sector fuelled by the highly-qualified workforce. For additional details, please visit our labour market and major employers pages.
- There is a high level of commuting into the city. According to the 2011 Census 88,000 people had their main job in Oxford – 46,000 of them lived outside the city.
- Oxford is the tourism gateway to the rest of Oxfordshire. We attract approximately 7 million day time and staying visitors per year, generating £780 million of income for local Oxford businesses. In terms of overseas visitors to the UK, Oxford is the eighth most visited city for staying visits.
- The number of Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) claimants plus those who claim Universal Credit (UC) who are out of work is currently 4,596 or 4.2% of workers as of June 2020. This compares to 1,915 and 1.8% of workers as of last June.
- The number of people unemployed is different to the number of people claiming JSA or UC - as some unemployed people choose not to claim or are not eligible to claim. The most recent estimate of Oxford's unemployment rate is 2.3% for the period April 2019 to March 2020; this is below the national average of 4.0%.
Economic Publications
- Oxford City Council response to LGA on the potential impact of Brexit
- Oxford Economic Profile 2018
- Oxford Business Survey 2015
- Social trends in Oxford (2014)
- Oxford Economic Narrative (July 2012)
More Oxford Economic Publications
Charts of the Month
- EU workforce across Oxfordshire
- NEET count exceeds youth JSA claimants as UC benefits are introduced (February 2016)
- Impact of Tourism on Oxford's Economy (December 2015)
- Occupations in Oxford (March 2015)
- Where do people work in Oxford? (August 2014)
- Medium-sized business most likely to be growing (May 2012)
- Oxford's importance goes beyond its size (February 2012)
Data
- Latest unemployment estimate for Oxford (live link via NOMIS)
- Businesses in Oxford by employment size (2015)
- Economic activity rates in Oxford (2011 Census)
Further links
- The Centre for Cities published an economic factsheet about Oxford, and a detailed report about Oxford and other fast growth cities.
- Nomis publishes a profile of Oxford's labour market which contains the most comprehensive and up to date statistics.
- Latest figures on Jobseeker's Allowance claimants (external link to Nomis website)
- Latest figures on employment and unemployment (external link to Nomis website)
