Trades union membership continues to be in decline according to the latest figures published by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).

The report, which uses information taken from the Labour Force Survey for the fourth quarter 2007, had the following key findings:

The rate of union membership for employees in the UK fell by 0.3 per cent in 2007, down from 28.3 per cent in 2006 to 28.0 per cent. Trade union density in the UK has now fallen 4.5 percentage points since 1995.

Amongst all those in employment in the UK, membership fell from 25.6 per cent in 2006 to 25.3 per cent in 2007.

For the sixth consecutive year, a higher proportion of women than men were trade union members. Union membership among women was 29.6 per cent in 2007, while for men it was 26.4 per cent.

Of the four nations, Northern Ireland had the highest union membership (39.7 per cent of employees). In Wales it was 37.3 per cent, and in Scotland 32.6 per cent. Union membership was lowest in England at 26.6 per cent.

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