FOI reference: FOI-2026-3688
You asked
I am writing to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 concerning ONS labour productivity data for the UK insurance industry.
I have reviewed the ONS datasets "Output per hour worked, UK" and "Output per hour worked by division, UK". The published section-level data combine financial services and insurance within SIC section K, while the division-level data for SIC 65 combine insurance, reinsurance and pension funding.
I would like to request the most detailed time-series data held by ONS that isolate insurance and reinsurance activities from the wider financial services sector and, where possible, from pension funding.
Specifically, for the most recent ten-year period available, please provide annual and quarterly data for:
- SIC 65.1 - Insurance;
- SIC 65.2 - Reinsurance; and
- a combined insurance and reinsurance series covering SIC 65.1 and SIC 65.2 but excluding SIC 65.3 pension funding.
Where data are held at a more detailed level, I would also be grateful for separate series for:
- SIC 65.11 - Life insurance;
- SIC 65.12 - Non-life insurance;
- SIC 65.20 - Reinsurance; and
- SIC 65.30 - Pension funding, so that the effect of pension funding within the published SIC 65 aggregate can be understood.
For each available industry breakdown, please provide the underlying series used to calculate labour productivity, including:
- gross value added or other measure of output;
- total hours worked;
- output per hour worked;
- the output-per-hour index;
- quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year percentage changes, where held; and
- both seasonally adjusted and non-seasonally adjusted data, where available.
If ONS holds comparable productivity data for SIC 66.22, "activities of insurance agents and brokers", I would also be grateful if this could be supplied as a separate series. I do not wish for SIC 66.22 to be combined with the insurance and reinsurance underwriting series.
Please provide the information in a machine-readable format, preferably Excel or CSV, by email.
I am seeking existing data or estimates already held by ONS rather than asking ONS to undertake new analysis. If the requested breakdowns cannot be disclosed or are not sufficiently robust for publication, please provide:
- the lowest level of SIC disaggregation at which the information is held;
- any partially available series that can be supplied;
- an explanation of any statistical quality, confidentiality or disclosure-control limitations; and
- any available methodology notes explaining how output, hours worked and output per hour are calculated for the insurance industry.
We said
Thank you for your request.
As mentioned in your request, we publish labour productivity estimates at both whole-economy and industry level within our output per hour dataset. The most detailed industry breakdown currently held within our output per hour by division dataset is at the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007) division (2-digit) level. For the activities you refer to, the lowest level available is:
SIC 65: Insurance, reinsurance and pension funding, except compulsory social security
SIC 66: Activities auxiliary to financial services and insurance activities
We do not hold labour productivity series within this dataset for the more detailed SIC groups or classes requested, including:
SIC 65.1 Insurance
SIC 65.2 Reinsurance
SIC 65.3 Pension funding
SIC 65.11 Life insurance
SIC 65.12 Non-life insurance
SIC 65.20 Reinsurance
SIC 66.22 Activities of insurance agents and brokers
Similarly, we do not hold separate labour productivity measures for these breakdowns, including the underlying hours worked, output per hour worked, productivity indices, or associated growth rates.
As a result, we are unable to provide:
Separate annual or quarterly productivity series for insurance, reinsurance, pension funding, life insurance, non-life insurance, or insurance brokers.
A combined insurance and reinsurance series excluding pension funding.
Separate seasonally adjusted or non-seasonally adjusted productivity estimates for these sub-divisions.
The most detailed labour productivity information available is the published division-level series for:
SIC 65: Insurance, reinsurance and pension funding, except compulsory social security
SIC 66: Activities auxiliary to financial services and insurance activities
These data are available through the published labour productivity datasets and represent the lowest level of SIC disaggregation available for these productivity estimates.
While labour productivity estimates are only available at the 2-digit SIC division level for these industries, some lower-level industry output (GVA) data are be available in our GDP(O) low-level aggregates publications. These output series are not accompanied by corresponding hours worked or labour productivity estimates at the same level of industry detail. As such, ONS does not hold the complete set of labour productivity measures requested for SIC 65.1, 65.2, 65.3 or SIC 66.22.
Methodological information explaining how labour productivity measures, including output per hour worked, are compiled is available in our Labour Productivity Quality and Methodology Information (QMI).