Nearly one in nine people are involved in the hidden economy

An estimated 8.8% of the UK adult population were identified as participating in the hidden economy according to research from HMRC. This figure has almost doubled since 2015-16 when the percentage was 4.9%

Another 4.8% of the population were identified as being possibly involved in the hidden economy up from 0.6% in 2015-16. The research suggests there could be several possible ‘real-world’ explanations for this change such as the growth of the gig economy or the impact of Covid-19 on employment.

Participation in the hidden economy was highest among younger people (17% of people aged 18 to 24) people in full-time education (20%) or unemployed (16%) and people in a more difficult financial situation (17% of those finding it very difficult).

Participation was split between three key types of behaviour. These are moonlighters who declare some income but not all accounted for...