Updated the 5th of March 2019

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Regional gap in GDP per capita, 2000-16 Index of regional disparity in GDP per capita, 2016

Regional disparities in terms of GDP per capita are high and have increased in the United Kingdom over the last sixteen years. In 2016, the GDP per capita in Wales was equivalent to 41% of the GDP per capita in Greater London. The United Kingdom has the 6th highest regional economic disparities among 30 OECD countries with comparable data and recorded the 4th largest increase in disparities between 2000 and 2016.

With a productivity growth of 1.3% per year over the period 2000-16, Greater London has not only the highest productivity level among UK regions but also experienced the largest productivity growth. In contrast, productivity in South West England grew by 0.4% per year, widening the gap to Greater London, the productivity frontier in the United Kingdom.

While youth unemployment in regions of the United Kingdom has been falling more rapidly than the OECD average since the crisis, large regional differences exist. West Midlands has the highest youth unemployment rate (17.7% in 2017), almost twice as high as the youth unemployment rate in Scotland.

Productivity trends, most and least dynamic regions, 2000-16 Youth unemployment rate, 15-24 years old, 2007-17

Source: OECD Regional Database. Notes: (1) Figure on regional gap in GDP per capita: OECD regions refer to the administrative tier of subnational government (large regions, Territorial Level 2); the United Kingdom is composed of 12 large regions. (2) Figure on index of regional disparity: top (bottom) 20% regions are defined as those with the highest (lowest) GDP per capita until the equivalent of 20% of national population is reached, this indicator provides an harmonised measure to rank OECD countries, using data for small regions (Territorial Level 3) when available. (3) Productivity is measured as GDP per employee at place of work in constant prices, constant Purchasing Power Parities (reference year 2010).

10 000

20 000

30 000

40 000

50 000

60 000

70 000

80 000

2000 2005 2010 2016

GDP per capita in USD PPP

Lowest regionWales

Highest regionGreater London

27 892 USD

67 455 USD

34 911 USD

United Kingdom

1

2

3

4

Top 20 % richest over bottom 20% poorest regionsRatio

Country (number of regions considered)

Small regions(TL3)

Large regions (TL2)

2016 2000

United Kingdom

60 000

70 000

80 000

90 000

100 000

110 000

120 000

2000 2005 2010 2016

GDP per worker in USD PPP

S.W. England: lowest productivity growth (+0.4% annually)

Greater London: highest productivity growth (+1.3% annually)

Greater London: highest productivity in 2016 and highest productivity growth (+1.3% average annual growth over 2000-16)

OECD

5

10

15

20

25

2007 2012 2017

rate (%)

Lowest rateScotland

Highest rateWest Midlands

9.2%

17.7%

12.1%United Kingdom

Regions and Cities at a Glance 2018 – UNITED KINGDOM http://www.oecd.org/regional

Economic trends in regions

Updated the 5th of March 2019

Relative ranking of the regions with the best and worst outcomes in the 11 well-being dimensions, with respect to all 402 OECD regions. The eleven dimensions are ordered by decreasing regional disparities in the country. Each well-being dimension is measured by the indicators in the table below.

In six out of the eleven well-being dimensions, at least one UK region ranks in the top 20% of OECD regions. Greater London is the British region with the highest well-being outcomes in health, income, education and access to services, but the lowest ones in housing. The largest regional disparities are found in the dimensions health, safety and jobs. In terms of jobs, South East England ranks in the top 5% of OECD regions whereas Northern Ireland is close to the OECD median region.

Apart from voter turnout, the high performing UK regions fare better than the OECD median region in all well-being indicators. For example, their disposable income per capita is around 45% higher than the OECD median. In the low performing regions, the percentage of voters in the last election was about 62%, eight percentage points below the OECD median, while the share of households with broadband access is more than ten percentage points above the OECD median.

Source: OECD Regional Database. Visualisation: https://www.oecdregionalwellbeing.org.

Notes: (1) OECD regions refer to the first administrative tier of subnational government (large regions, Territorial Level 2); the United Kingdom is composed of 12 large regions. (2) Household income per capita data are based on USD constant PPP, constant prices (year 2010).

GreaterLondon

South EastEngland

South EastEngland

GreaterLondon

Scotland

North EastEngland

North EastEngland

GreaterLondon

GreaterLondon

Scotland

Scotland

Scotland

Yorkshire andThe Humber

NorthernIreland Northern

Ireland

North EastEngland

GreaterLondon

East ofEngland

NorthernIreland

North EastEngland

NorthernIreland

North EastEngland

Health Safety Jobs Income Community Housing Environment Education Access toservices

CivicEngagement

LifeSatisfaction

Top region Bottom region

Ra

nkin

g o

f O

EC

D r

eg

ion

s(1

to 4

02)

top 2

0%

bo

tto

m 2

0%

mid

dle

60%

GreaterLondon

Regions and countries

Top 20% Bottom 20%

Health

Life Expectancy at birth (years), 2016 81.2 80.4 82.7 79.7

Age adjusted mortality rate (per 1 000 people), 2016 7.7 8.1 6.9 8.6

Safety

Homicide Rate (per 100 000 people), 2016 1.2 1.3 0.7 2.0

Jobs

Employment rate 15 to 64 years old (%), 2017 72.8 67.7 76.4 69.8

Unemployment rate 15 to 64 years old (%), 2017 4.5 5.5 3.5 5.5

Income

Disposable income per capita (in USD PPP), 2016 20 610 17 695 25 589 17 656

Community

Perceived social netw ork support (%), 2013 94.8 91.4 95.9 92.8

Housing

Rooms per person, 2016 1.9 1.8 2.1 1.8

Environment

Level of air pollution in PM 2.5 (µg/m³), 2015 9.2 12.4 7.2 11.7

Education

Labour force w ith at least upper secondary education (%), 2017 83.3 81.7 87.5 79.7

Access to services

Households w ith broadband access (%), 2017 93.0 78.0 96.0 88.8

Civic engagement

Voters in last national election (%), 2017 or lastest year 66.1 70.9 70.0 62.1

Life Satisfaction

Life satisfaction (scale from 0 to 10), 2013 6.9 6.8 7.1 6.8

UK regions and countriesCountry

Average

OECD median

region

Differences in well-being across regions

Updated the 5th of March 2019

OECD population is concentrated in cities* Percentage of population in cities, 2016

Source: OECD Metropolitan Database. Number of cities: 47 in the United Kingdom and 1 138 in the OECD.

In the United Kingdom, 79% of the population lives in cities of more than 50 000 inhabitants. The share of population in cities with more than 500 000 people is 53%, in line with the OECD average (55%).

Importance of metropolitan areas Cities above 500 000 people, 2016

Contribution of metropolitan areas to GDP growth Cities above 500 000 people, 2000-16

Metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom account for 59% of national GDP and 56% of employment. Between 2000 and 2016, the UK metropolitan areas generated 65% of national GDP growth. The metropolitan area of London contributed 38% to national GDP growth.

In terms of GDP per capita, London is among the richest 20% of the 327 OECD metropolitan areas. Kingston upon Hull and Sheffield are among the bottom 20% of OECD metropolitan areas.

When considering levels of PM 2.5, Edinburgh is in the 20% least polluted OECD metropolitan areas.

OECD Metropolitan areas ranking Cities above 500 000 people, 2016

GDP per capita, 2016

Air pollution (PM2.5), 2017

Source: OECD Metropolitan Database. Number of metropolitan areas with a population of over 500 000: 20 in the United Kingdom compared to 327 in the OECD. * Note: Cities are defined here as functional urban areas, which are composed by high-density urban centres of at least 50 000 people and their areas of influence (commuting zone). For more information, see: http://www.oecd.org/cfe/regional-policy/functionalurbanareasbycountry.htm.

53%

15%

11%

21%

United States

people in citieswith population above 500 000

peopleoutside cities

United States

people in cities withpopulation between50 000 and 250 000

65.4 million people - 79% live in cities

United StatesUnited Kingdom

people in cities with population between 250 000 and 500 000

OECD average

1.2 billion people - 70%live in cities

people in citieswith population

above 500 000

people in cities withpopulation between

50 000 and 250 000

peopleoutside cities

55%

9%

30%

people in cities with populationbetween 250 000 and 500 000

6%

59% 56% 53%63%

58% 55%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

% of nationalGDP

% of nationalemployment

% of nationalpopulation

United Kingdom OECD average%

65%68%

Lo

nd

on

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1 2

%

All metropolitan areas Largest contributor

United Kingdom OECD average

32

7 m

etr

op

olit

an

are

as

0

20 000

40 000

60 000

80 000

100 000USD PPP

Top 20% richest metropolitan areas

Bottom 20% poorest metropolitan areas

0

10

20

30

Lev el of air pollution in PM 2.5 (µg/m³)

Top 20% least polluted metropolitan areas

Bottom 20% most polluted metropolitan areas

Metropolitan areas in the national economy

Updated the 5th of March 2019

Subnational government expenditure by function As a share of total subnational government expenditure, 2016

Subnational government expenditure amounts to USD 4 283 per capita in the United Kingdom compared to an OECD average of USD 6 817. In the United Kingdom, this is equivalent to 24.2% of total public expenditure and to 10% of GDP. In comparison, across the OECD, subnational government expenditure accounts for 40.4% of total public expenditure and for 16.2% of GDP. Social protection and education are the two largest spending items for subnational governments in the United Kingdom. Together they represent 63% of subnational expenditure compared to 39% in the OECD area.

In United Kingdom, 34.8% of total public investment was carried out by subnational governments compared to an OECD average of 56.9%.

Role of subnational governments in public investment Subnational government public investment per capita, 2016

Source: OECD Subnational Government Structure and Finance Database. Note: The function ‘Other’ includes housing and community amenities, recreation, culture and religion; environment; public order and safety.

OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance 2018

The 2018 edition of OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance shows how regions and cities contribute to national growth and the well-being of societies. It updates its regular set of region-by-region indicators, examining a wide range of policies and trends and identifying those regions that are outperforming or lagging behind in their country.

Consult this publication on line: https://oe.cd/pub/2n9

Health 2% 18% Health

Economic affairs 9% 14% Economic affairs

General public services 7% 14% General public services

Education 27% 25% Education

Other 19% 15% Other

Social protectionSocial protection 36% 14%

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

United Kingdom OECD average

Subnational expenditure per capita: USD 4 283 USD 6 817

0

200

400

600

800

1 000

1 200

1 400

Total public investmentUSD 1 057 per capita2.5% of GDP Total public investment

USD 1 278 per capita3.0% of GDP

Subnational governmentinvestmentUSD 367 per capita34.8% of public invest.

USD per capita

Subnational government investmentUSD 727 per capita 56.9% of public invest.

OECD averageUnited Kingdom

Subnational government finance