4. New areas of economic interest

Historically, we have produced gross value added (GVA) estimates for areas of the UK according to the Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (NUTS), the EU classification of regions. These areas are principally designed to facilitate international comparisons at a subnational level, and were used, for instance, to inform the allocation of EU structural funds for economic redevelopment.

In recent years, other geographic areas of the UK have emerged that are of interest to UK policymakers and administrators, and many of these do not match areas within the NUTS classification. This process has been accelerated by events such as the replacement of the UK’s Regional Development Agencies, which aligned to the English regions, with a collection of local enterprise partnerships, many of which cover non-standard areas. The establishment of combined authorities with elected Mayors, and City and Growth Deals, has further devolved administrative responsibilities to parts of the UK, and in many cases the areas covered do not match NUTS regions.

As part of our role in meeting the needs of domestic users, we set up a Flexible Geography project, with the aim of developing the capability to provide economic statistics for any area of the UK of interest to users. The first phase of this project has concentrated on developing statistics for the local authorities of the UK, from which many of the new emerging areas can be built.

In last year’s bulletin we included estimates for local authorities, local enterprise partnerships and English combined authorities, in current basic prices and with a broad industry breakdown into 10 sectors of the economy. This year we have gone further, including a range of new emerging areas across all the countries of the UK, and with a more detailed industry breakdown in both current prices and in real terms, with price inflation removed, as chained volume measures. Many of these new areas are based around city regions, and some represent economic enterprise regions that are the focus of devolved government targets for economic growth and development.

Not all of these areas are completely finalised in terms of their official ratification by government, so it is possible that some may change over time. We believe it is important to provide the best coverage we can at the point we release statistics, regardless of the official status of these areas, and we will adapt our coverage each year to move in accordance with the evolution of these economic regions. You can find the current list of local authority areas that we have used to build each of these regions in the data tables published with this bulletin.

One important development since last year’s publication is the emergence of city regions covering each of the four capital cities of the UK. These areas are far wider in scope than the NUTS3 and local authority areas that we highlighted in last year’s bulletin. Only London is unchanged in geography.

In Table 2 we present summary statistics for the four capital city regions. Here, London is represented by the Greater London Authority, Cardiff by the Cardiff Capital Region, Edinburgh by the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region, and Belfast by the Belfast Region City Deal area.

Table 2: Summary of gross value added (GVA) statistics for the UK capital city regions, 20171,2 Capital City Region Population3 Total GVA (£ million)4 Annual growth in total GVA (%)4 Annual growth in real GVA (%)5 Three-year growth in real GVA (%)5 Real GVA growth since 2009 (%)5 Greater London Authority6 8,825,001 431,164 4.2 2.9 9.4 28.4 Cardiff Capital Region 1,524,557 31,807 3.4 1.8 7.2 13.0 Edinburgh and SE Scotland City Region 1,375,880 40,297 4.3 2.8 9.8 13.6 Belfast City Region 1,101,803 27,399 2.6 0.7 4.9 9.5 Source: Office for National Statistics Notes: 1. Figures may not sum due to rounding in totals. 2. 2017 estimates are provisional. 3. Population estimates are sourced from population estimates for UK. 4. GVA(B) in current prices. 5. GVA(B) in chained volume measures. 6. Although they cover the same area, estimates for the GLA and London LEP may differ slightly from those for the London NUTS1 region, due to rounding. Download this table Table 2: Summary of gross value added (GVA) statistics for the UK capital city regions, 2017^1,2^ .xls (49.7 kB)

In Table 3 we present summary statistics for the officially approved English combined authorities with elected Mayors. The first of these were established in 2014, so the three-year growth rates shown represent a measure of how much the combined authorities have grown since they were first set up.

Table 3: Summary of gross value added (GVA) statistics for combined authorities, 20171,2 Combined Authority (CA) Population3 Total GVA (£ million)4 Annual growth in total GVA (%)4 Annual growth in ‘real’ GVA (%)5 Three-year growth in real GVA (%)5 Real GVA growth since 2009 (%)5 Greater Manchester CA 2,798,799 66,413 3.5 1.9 7.1 12.3 West Midlands CA 2,897,303 66,667 3.9 1.9 10.4 23.1 Liverpool City Regions CA 1,544,420 32,030 5.0 3.3 4.1 2.4 North of Tyne CA 819,345 18,863 4.5 3.0 7.1 13.8 Tees Valley CA 672,497 13,122 2.1 0.5 -1.3 2.8 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CA 847,151 24,463 3.3 1.8 7.3 22.3 West of England CA 926,957 29,295 2.2 0.8 1.9 17.9 Source: Office for National Statistics Notes: 1. Figures may not sum due to rounding in totals. 2. 2017 estimates are provisional. 3. Population estimates are sourced from population estimates for UK. 4. GVA(B) in current prices. 5. GVA(B) in chained volume measures. Download this table Table 3: Summary of gross value added (GVA) statistics for combined authorities, 2017^1,2^ .xls (41.5 kB)

In Table 4 we present summary statistics for other city regions and growth deal areas across the UK that have emerged in recent years. Some of these areas are still evolving, in terms of their precise geographic coverage, and are at various stages of the process of securing an official growth deal.

Table 4: Summary of gross value added (GVA) statistics for other UK city regions, 20171,2 Region Population3 Total GVA (£ million)4 Annual growth in total GVA (%)4 Annual growth in real GVA (%)5 Three-year growth in real GVA (%)5 Real GVA growth since 2009 (%)5 Sheffield City Region 1,393,445 25,991 2.5 2.3 6.4 14.1 Leeds City Region 3,063,074 69,622 3.2 1.5 5.5 10.5 Glasgow City Region 1,827,240 41,368 4.1 2.6 3.4 11.6 Aberdeen City Region 490,600 18,606 0.7 -0.9 -11.6 13.0 Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region 145,450 3,493 1.8 0.4 9.9 4.2 Tay Cities Region 787,500 18,600 2.9 0.9 5.5 16.9 Ayrshires 370,410 5,777 7.0 4.8 4.8 8.5 Scottish Island Councils 72,030 1,835 1.5 -0.6 -0.8 2.9 South of Scotland 264,220 4,703 7.1 4.9 6.0 16.0 North Wales Growth Deal 696,284 14,450 4.4 2.9 6.9 20.6 Mid Wales Growth Deal 205,591 3,626 -1.5 -2.9 0.9 12.6 Swansea Bay City Region 698,733 12,305 2.4 0.0 2.4 14.9 Derry-Londonderry City Region 150,497 2,588 5.4 3.5 9.5 7.4 Source: Office for National Statistics Notes: 1. Figures may not sum due to rounding in totals. 2. 2017 estimates are provisional. 3. Population estimates are sourced from population estimates for UK. 4. GVA(B) in current prices. 5. GVA(B) in chained volume measures. Download this table Table 4: Summary of gross value added (GVA) statistics for other UK city regions, 2017^1,2^ .xls (49.7 kB)

In Table 5 we present summary statistics for some of the 38 English local enterprise partnerships. There are too many of these areas to clearly show in a single table here, so we have just included the top five and bottom five according to their overall growth in real GVA since the low point of the economic recession in 2009. In this way, we can show the areas that have recovered most strongly since the recession, and those that have struggled the most since that time. You can find statistics for all of the local enterprise partnerships in the data tables published with this bulletin.

Table 5: Summary of gross value added (GVA) statistics for local enterprise partnerships, 20171,2 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Population3 Total GVA (£ million)4 Annual growth in total GVA (%)4 Annual growth in real GVA (%)5 Three-year growth in real GVA (%)5 Real GVA growth since 2009 (%)5 Top five by real GVA growth since 2009 Coventry and Warwickshire LEP 924,711 26,039 3.5 1.3 6.8 33.4 London LEP6 8,825,001 431,164 4.2 2.9 9.4 28.4 South East Midlands LEP 2,016,952 57,114 4.6 2.8 11.8 26.0 Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP 2,031,281 51,270 3.5 1.6 12.1 22.7 Worcestershire LEP 588,370 13,314 4.7 2.9 6.2 21.6 Bottom five by real GVA growth since 2009 Cumbria LEP 498,375 11,568 0.5 -1.4 -0.3 5.8 York, North Yorkshire and East Riding LEP 1,157,857 25,348 2.9 1.2 2.7 4.7 Tees Valley LEP 672,497 13,122 2.1 0.5 -1.3 2.8 Liverpool City Region LEP 1,544,420 32,032 5.0 3.3 4.1 2.4 Humber LEP 929,854 18,612 -0.7 -3.1 0.4 -5.3 Source: Office for National Statistics Notes: 1. Figures may not sum due to rounding in totals. 2. 2017 estimates are provisional. 3. Population estimates are sourced from population estimates for UK. 4. GVA(B) in current prices. 5. GVA(B) in chained volume measures. 6. Although they cover the same area, estimates for the GLA and London LEP may differ slightly from those for the London NUTS1 region, due to rounding. Download this table Table 5: Summary of gross value added (GVA) statistics for local enterprise partnerships, 2017^1,2^ .xls (41.5 kB)

In Table 6 we present summary statistics for the other economic and enterprise regions of the UK that we are aware of that are of interest to regional policymakers and administrators. Some of these share geographic coverage with other areas included in this bulletin. For example, the South East Wales Economic Region covers the same area as the Cardiff Capital Region. We have included these areas under each title that we know is being used, to help users find statistics appropriate to the area they are looking for, whichever name they are familiar with.

Table 6: Summary of gross value added (GVA) statistics for other UK economic regions, 20171,2 Region Population3 Total GVA (£ million)4 Annual growth in total GVA (%)4 Annual growth in real GVA (%)5 Three-year growth on real GVA (%)5 Real GVA growth since 2009 (%)5 The Borderlands Partnership 1,081,625 21,506 2.4 0.5 0.5 7.2 Scottish Enterprise 4,935,000 114,154 3.7 2.1 2.9 12.3 Highlands and Islands Enterprise 489,800 11,774 -1.0 -2.8 -2.8 5.3 North Wales Economic Region 696,284 14,450 4.4 2.9 6.9 20.6 Mid and South West Wales Economic Region 904,324 15,932 1.5 -0.7 2.0 14.3 South East Wales Economic Region 1,524,557 31,806 3.4 1.8 7.2 13.0 Source: Office for National Statistics Notes: 1. Figures may not sum due to rounding in totals. 2. 2017 estimates are provisional. 3. Population estimates are sourced from population estimates for UK. 4. GVA(B) in current prices. 5. GVA(B) in chained volume measures. Download this table Table 6: Summary of gross value added (GVA) statistics for other UK economic regions, 2017^1,2^ .xls (49.7 kB)

The areas we have included in this year’s bulletin go a long way towards meeting the needs of regional users for monitoring the economic activity of their regions of interest. It is not the end of the journey, however. We intend to make use of the administrative data that are now available to us, following enactment of the Digital Economy Act 2017, to compile GVA estimates for even smaller areas, which can then be used to construct any areas of interest to users, no matter how precise their geographic coverage.

We intend to publish a statement in summer 2019 that will outline the extent to which we believe we can achieve this aim, and any limitations we need to put in place to maintain the confidentiality of personal (or individual company) information. If all goes well, we will make even more flexible geographic data available with next December’s bulletin.