Construction workforce increases to highest level since 2023

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes quarterly data⁽¹⁾ measuring the number of employees and self-employed people in the UK by industry and gender. This data, which is non-seasonally adjusted, is based on the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and aims to provide a current snapshot of employment trends and insight into the labour markets of specific industries.

Over the last 18 months, ONS has made several changes to address quality concerns with the LFS⁽²⁾ and caution has been advised in using these statistics.

Construction workforce increases to highest level since 2023

The UK construction workforce grew to its highest level since 4Q2023 in the first quarter of 2025, according to the latest employment data from the ONS.

There were 2,130,294 workers in the construction sector in 1Q2025, with over one-third self-employed.

This was an increase of 0.1% on the total workforce in 4Q2024. On the year, the workforce increased by 1.7%.

However, the size of the workforce remained 11.6% lower than in pre-pandemic 1Q2019, with 279,650 fewer workers.

Compared with 1Q2008, before the financial crash, the workforce has shrunk by 365,786.

Dr David Crosthwaite, chief economist at BCIS, said: ‘A marginal increase in the construction workforce is not a major win for the industry. Numbers remain well below the levels seen before the 2008-09 financial crisis, and the government’s recent immigration crackdown is yet another blow to the construction labour market.

‘While self-employed numbers recovered to the pre-financial crisis level before the pandemic, and are starting to climb, direct employment is significantly lower and must catch up if the sector is to deliver the new homes and infrastructure that the government has promised.’

Employed and self-employed workers

In 1Q2025, there were 1,338,996 employed workers and 791,298 self-employed workers. Self-employed workers therefore accounted for 37% of the overall workforce, the same proportion as has been the overall average level of self-employment in the sector since 1997.

The number of employed workers in 1Q2025 was down 1.1% on the quarter, but up by 1.8% on the year.

Self-employed workers in construction increased for the third consecutive quarter and rose by 1.4% on the year.

^{Source: ONS}

The construction gender divide

Breaking down the LFS figures by gender, 84.3% of all construction workers in 1Q2025 were men, with 335,131 women working in the sector in total.

Among employed workers, the number of male and female workers respectively decreased on the quarter and the year.

In contrast, self-employed men increased by 2.1% on the quarter and 1.8% annually, while the number of self-employed women rose by 7.5% on 4Q2024 and fell by 6.7% on the year.

^{Source: ONS}

To keep up to date with the latest industry news and insights from BCIS, register for our newsletter here.

^{(1) ONS – EMP14: Employees and self-employed by industry  - here}

^{(2) ONS – Labour Force Survey quality update: May 2025  - here}