EMPLOYMENT MARKET ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH (EMAR)

TRADE UNION MEMBERSHIP STATISTICS

The Department of Trade and Industry is responsible for publishing the trade union National Statistic. In the past, estimates of trade union membership from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) were published in an annual article in the ONS journal Labour Market Trends. However, the amount of information that can be conveyed in a single article is necessarily quite limited, so in its place we are now publishing an annual statistical report.

The April 2005 report, Trade union membership 2004 (421Kb), is the second of this new annual series. The report is based on LFS data-sets weighted to post Census-2001 population estimates.

It contains estimates of trade union membership from the Labour Force Survey for autumn 2004 for both employees and for all respondents who are in employment. Estimates are presented for the number and proportion of people in employment who are trade union members in both the United Kingdom and Great Britain, and for employees whose pay and conditions are affected by collective agreements. We also provide trade union densities by age, sex, ethnicity, income, full and part-time employment, sector, nation and region.

Printed copies of this report can be ordered at no charge from Publications@DTI either online, by phone or by email: Logon to http://www.dti.gov.uk/publications and search using URN 04/1017.  Alternatively call the DTI Publications Orderline on 0845 015 0010 (+44 0845 015 0010) and provide the URN, or email them at: publications@dti.gsi.gov.uk

Trade union membership and labour disputes statistics quality review
The Department of Trade and Industry and the Office for National Statistics are currently carrying out a Quality Review of trade union membership and labour disputes statistics.  The DTI and ONS are keen to consult users of these statistics.  The Project Initiation Document below gives more information about the Quality Review. Click here (196Kb)

If you would like to contribute to the review please complete the questionnaire below, questionnaires can be returned by post or e-mail to Heidi Grainger to the address at the bottom of the page.
Quality Review Questionnaire

Previous trade union membership articles may also be downloaded here: Please note, however, that some past figures have been revised in the most recent publication and therefore will not be comparable with earlier publications:

Trade Union Membership 2003 - July 2004 click here (1,065Kb)
March 2004 Analysis in Brief - Trade union membership: estimates from the autumn 2003 Labour Force Survey click here (110Kb)
July 2003 Spotlight article - estimates from the 2002 Labour Force Survey click here    (94Kb)
Trade union membership: an analysis of data from the autumn 2001 Labour Force Survey (71Kb)
Trade union membership 1999-00 (118Kb)
Trade union membership 1998-99 (188Kb)
Trade union membership and recognition 1997-98 (199Kb)

The Certification Officer publishes an annual report that includes numbers of trade unions and membership levels. To obtain tables containing a time series of union membership and numbers of unions from 1975-2002 and a distribution by size of union from 1989-2002 please click here. (These have been produced as part of the update in the presentation of Certification Office data (as described in the 1999-2000 trade union membership article).

For further information, please contact:

Heidi Grainger
Statistical Adviser
Employment Market Analysis and Research
Department of Trade and Industry
1 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0ET
tel: 020 7215 5934
e-mail: heidi.grainger@dti.gsi.gov.uk

Information on National Statistics, the Labour Market as well as relevant data can be obtained from the Office for National Statistics homepage. Alternatively, contact their Labour Market Statistics help line for detailed information on 020 7533 6094.

Last updated 15th April  2005