A new analysis of the numbers revealed.

A total of 314,200 people in Scotland, aged between 16 and 64, have never worked a day in their lives, the Office for National Statistics data shows.

This includes 165,700 Scots who are not in full-time education, but have not passed.

This means more than nine per cent of 3,468,100 year-old adults had no job, according to analysis by Scots. Conservatives.

The figures come amid major concerns about the rising cost of benefits in Scotland.

Scotch Conservative leader Russell Findlay told the Daily Telegraph: ‘We have SNP A government that doesn’t care remotely about Scotland’s economy.

“Too many people are trapped in a life of benefits to their great detriment – ​​and to the detriment of the wider economy.”

He said the numbers were “deeply concerning,” but said he was “not surprised” by what they showed.

Mr Findlay said: ‘It’s unfair on them. It’s unfair on those who work hard and pay the tax, which is why we need to do a much better job as a country about getting these people into the workplace. “

The number of people who have never worked in Scotland has risen significantly in the past year.

In 2022, 111,500 people were registered as having never worked and were not in full-time education, but this number rose to 151,200 in 2023 and to 165,700 in 2024, according to data compiled by the Scottish Parliament’s independent research center (SPICE) in response to a request from the Scottish Parliament.

The figures come after Mr Findlay used a Tory conference speech to condemn the SNP’s failings on the economy, the bloated benefits bill and the nationalization of industry.

He claimed that both the SNP and ROPORT UK are “economic saboteurs”, while nationalists want to turn Scotland into a country that “rewards partners, not vests”.

In return, he pledged that the Scottish Conservatives would be “the party of economic opportunity in Scotland”.

Audit Scotland recently highlighted that more people in Scotland are now identifying as having a long-term illness, up from 18.7 per cent in 2011 to 21.4 per cent in 2025.

A report by Scotland’s Auditor-General recently showed how the Scottish Government will spend £2.6bn on the Administrative Deficit Payment (ADP) this year, which is more than the £141m of funding it receives through the building grant from Westminster.

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay used a speech at the Tory conference to condemn the SNP’s failings on the economy, the bloated benefits bill and the nationalization of industry

It said the total funding gap for ADP would grow to £770 million by 2029/30 – and that the total gap for all devolved social security payments would rise to £2 billion by the end of the decade.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Scotland’s unemployment and unemployment rates are lower than the UK as a whole, and devolved employment services have supported nearly 27,000 people into work.

“Major Disability Payment is a payment to help with the additional cost of disability. It is not an unemployment benefit and many of its recipients are in full-time work.

In the UK, one million young people aged between 16 and 24 have no education, employment or training, of which 58 per cent have never had a paid job, according to ONS statistics.

In 2020, it was revealed that 3.4 million people in the UK (8.2 per cent of the working population) had never paid.