Regional economic indicators: with a focus on gross disposable household income

Abstract

This quarter, the Regional Economic Indicators article focuses on Gross Disposable Household Income (GDHI) which is a key measure of economic welfare and of the prosperity of residents living in a region. This article analyses the dispersion in GDHI per head between UK regions and sub‐regions between 1995 and 2008. The regular part of the article then gives an overview of the economic activity of UK regions in terms of their Gross Value Added (GVA), GVA per head and labour productivity. This is followed by a presentation of headline indicators of regional welfare, other drivers of regional productivity and regional labour market statistics. The indicators cover the nine Government Office Regions of England and the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. These 12 areas comprise level 1 of the European Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (NUTS level 1) for the UK. The term ‘region’ is used to describe this level of geography for convenience in this article.