Of those who are ' economically inactive', a large number of them are registered students.

The dependency ratio -the number of workers to economically inactive people, mainly the elderly and children -is deteriorating.

Variables found in both analyses included living in the metropolitan area, being economically inactive and being a high user of health services.

For EU member states, the ratio could rise to almost one older, economically inactive person for every worker over the same period.

The European Court of Justice ruled this week that Germany was entitled to refuse unemployment benefits to " economically inactive" EU migrants.

However, all the data could be reclassified into 53 occupational groups and 1 group of economically inactive persons.

The total number of " economically inactive" people, which includes students and carers, rose to 8.18 million.

The unemployment rate in the North has fallen to a nine-year low, but the proportion of " economically inactive" people has risen sharply.

It would appear that many people from both groups retreated from the jobs market to become economically inactive, leaving the official unemployment rate little changed.

It means the UK has lower unemployment and a bigger workforce, with fewer people economically inactive than France -but lower productivity and lower pay.

The government also argues that firms will reach out to " economically inactive" Britons and pull them into new jobs, thereby increasing overall economic output.

The number of people of working age that were economically inactive decreased by an estimated 14,000 over the three months to November.

Those 218,000 people aged 65 and over who have become " economically inactive" in the UK will have less to spend.

It has been determined that among the chronically poor, 69% of the household heads are economically inactive or, for lack of a better word, unemployed.

There are also 793,000 people in the 16 to 24 age group who are economically inactive, and are not in full time education.