Quick facts
- The City of Oxford is home to around 4,950 businesses, collectively employing approximately 128,000 people.
- 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.
- Oxford is the tourism gateway to the rest of Oxfordshire. We attract approximately 7 million daytime 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 ninth most visited city for staying visits in 2021.
- The number of Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) claimants plus those who claim Universal Credit (UC) who are out of work is currently 2,710 or 2.3% of workers as of March 2023. This compares to 2.6% of workers as of last March.
- 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 2.6% for the period January 2022 to December 2022; this is below the national average of 3.6%.
Economic Publications
- Oxford City Council response to LGA on the potential impact of Brexit
- Oxford Economic Profile 2018
- 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)
