Brief
Ten years of the UK’s regional economy: who grew, and who stood still
Output per person in every region and nation over the last decade ONS has published. Guess your own region first, then see what happened and why.
23 Sept 2026 · Report explained: Office for National Statistics, Regional gross domestic product: all ITL regions (1998 to 2024), released 23 September 2026
Before the figures, a guess
The measure here is , in . It is the closest thing ONS publishes to a yardstick for how a region's economy is doing, and it runs every year from 1998 to 2024.
Pick a region, then draw where you think its line went over the last ten years.
Real output per person in 2023 money. Office for National Statistics, Regional gross domestic product: all ITL regions (1998 to 2024), released 23 September 2026
Draw the line, or use the slider, then press the button.
Ten years, twelve places
Scroll on and the map beside the text changes with it. Tap any hex to follow that region instead; your choice carries through the rest of the page.
In 2014, output per person ran from £26,791 in the North East to £63,744 in London. The UK figure was £37,411.
All in 2023 money, so the years compare directly.
By 2024, London stood at £69,648 and the North East at £28,921. Across the UK, output per person went from £37,411 to £40,172.
The scale is the same as the map before, so the colours only deepen where output really grew.
From 2014 to 2024, output per person across the UK rose 7.4% in real terms. Northern Ireland rose most, at +13.7%. The East Midlands rose least, at +0.6%.
Any "since" figure depends on where it starts. Move the starting year and watch the regions reorder.
From 2014 to 2024, output per person across the UK rose 7.4% in real terms. Northern Ireland rose most, at +13.7%. The East Midlands rose least, at +0.6%.
Some of that is about people, not output. Between 2014 and 2024 the population grew fastest in the East Midlands (+9.1%) and slowest in Wales (+3.7%).
A region whose population grows as fast as its economy stands still per person.
Output per person, 2014
Real terms, in 2023 money. Each hex is one region or nation.
United Kingdom £37,411 Tap a hex to follow another region
- under £30,000
- £30,000 to £34,000
- £34,000 to £38,000
- £38,000 to £42,000
- £42,000 to £52,000
- £52,000 and over
Office for National Statistics, Regional gross domestic product: all ITL regions (1998 to 2024), released 23 September 2026
- Output per person, 2014
- Output per person, 2024
- Change in output per person, 2014 to 2024
- Ranked: change from 2014 to 2024
- Change in population, 2014 to 2024
A bigger economy, or fewer people to share it?
ONS publishes the whole economy of each region and the number of people living there, as well as the figure per person. Put side by side, they show why the order above surprises.
The UK's economy grew 15.1% and its population grew 7.2%; output per person rose 7.4%.
What grew, 2014 to 2024
Changes worked out by datamap.uk from ONS figures
- The economy, in real terms
- The population
- +0.0%Output per person
Office for National Statistics, Regional gross domestic product: all ITL regions (1998 to 2024), released 23 September 2026: Table 10, Table 6 and Table 11
The London gap, two ways
Whether the gap between the top and the bottom closed depends on how it is measured, and both ways are fair.
As a multiple, London produced about 2.4 times as much per person as the North East in both years.
In pounds, the distance widened: from £36,953 per person in 2014 to £40,727 in 2024, both in 2023 money.
ONS's figures per person, 2014 and 2024, in 2023 money. The multiples and the differences are our arithmetic on them.
Year by year, it was bumpy
The ten-year change hides the swings. These are ONS's own growth rates in output per person, each year against the one before. Tap a square to read it, or use the arrow keys.
| Region | 052005 | 062006 | 072007 | 082008 | 092009 | 102010 | 112011 | 122012 | 132013 | 142014 | 152015 | 162016 | 172017 | 182018 | 192019 | 202020 | 212021 | 222022 | 232023 | 242024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||
| North West | ||||||||||||||||||||
| North East | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Yorkshire | ||||||||||||||||||||
| West Midlands | ||||||||||||||||||||
| East Midlands | ||||||||||||||||||||
| East | ||||||||||||||||||||
| South West | ||||||||||||||||||||
| South East | ||||||||||||||||||||
| London |
- fell 5% or more
- fell 1% to 5%
- fell under 1%
- rose under 1%
- 1% to 2%
- 2% to 3%
- 3% to 5%
- 5% or more
Office for National Statistics, Regional gross domestic product: all ITL regions (1998 to 2024), released 23 September 2026: Table 13, as published
In 2020, output per person in the UK fell 10.2% on the year before, and the economy as a whole fell 10.0%. Both are ONS's own figures.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Regional gross domestic product: all ITL regions (1998 to 2024) · as published
Did household income follow?
Output is counted where people work, and a commuter adds to the region they travel into. What households have to spend after tax and benefits is counted where they live, and it tells a steadier story. ONS publishes it as an index, with the UK at 100.
Against the UK average, 4 regions and nations moved up by half a point or more between 2014 and 2024, and 5 moved down.
Household income per person against the UK, 2014 and 2024
- 2014
- 2024
- UK = 100
Office for National Statistics, Regional gross disposable household income: all ITL regions (1997 to 2024), released 19 August 2026: Table 4, as published
Why this stops at 2024
ONS publishes these figures once a year. The 2024 figures came out on 23 September 2026. ONS paused its quarterly figures for Wales and the English regions in July 2023 and is bringing them back. Its July 2026 update publishes early figures up to July to September 2025, but only at current prices, which include rising prices, so they cannot show real growth. ONS calls them official statistics in development and asks users to "avoid making decisions or drawing conclusions about individual regions, industries, or short-term movements until data sources and methods have been finalised". So they are not drawn here.
This edition withholds figures for some smaller areas in the south-west of England, Wales and western Scotland, so the map stays at regions and nations for now. ONS's own note on the file:
We have identified an issue in the process used to convert from old International Territorial Level (ITL) 2 subregions to new subregions introduced in the ITL25 update. The issue affects ITL2 subregions: K5 (West of England), K6 (North Somerset, Somerset and Dorset), K7 (Gloucestershire and Wiltshire), L3 (North Wales), L4 (Mid and South West Wales), L5 (South East Wales), M2 (Highlands and Islands), and M3 (West Central Scotland). All lower-level areas within these subregions will also be affected, as will any city and enterprise regions containing parts of these subregions. ITL1 countries and regions are unaffected.
We have suppressed any estimates for these areas to avoid releasing potentially misleading information. We expect to release a complete dataset within four to six weeks. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this, and we thank you for your patience while we work to resolve the issue.
This page will move to the smaller areas once ONS publishes the complete figures.
What this doesn't tell you
- Output per person is counted where work happens. For places with many commuters in or out, it is not a measure of how well off the people who live there are.
- A region is a large place. London's figure covers both the City and outer boroughs, and Scotland's covers Aberdeen and the Borders alike.
- Oil and gas output from the continental shelf is not assigned to any region. ONS keeps it in a separate "extra-regio" line, so no region's figure includes it, Scotland's included, while the UK figure does.
- Household income is measured before housing costs. Two areas with the same figure can leave households with very different amounts once rent or a mortgage is paid.
- The hexes are equal in size, so the map shows order and grouping, not distance, shape or population.
- ONS revises past years in each edition, so figures here can differ from ones printed before.
Sources and method
- Office for National Statistics, Regional gross domestic product: all ITL regions (1998 to 2024), released 23 September 2026. Table 11 for output per person in real terms, Table 10 for the whole economy, Table 6 for population and Table 13 and Table 12 for the yearly growth rates. Rows matched on the "ITL code" column, years on the header row of each named table.
- Office for National Statistics, Regional gross disposable household income: all ITL regions (1997 to 2024), released 19 August 2026. Table 4 for household income per person against the UK. Rows matched on the "ITL code" column, years on the header row of each named table.
Every pound figure, population figure, yearly growth rate and income index on this page is ONS's own, read from the files above. The changes over several years (on the maps, in the ranking, in the chart of what grew, in the answer to your guess) and the London multiple and gap in pounds are our arithmetic: each compares two ONS figures from the same table. Nothing combines figures from different tables into one number.