REGIONAL ANALYSIS: North West

Article

This analysis was handed out at our event Economic Justice for the North West. The event was the North West instalment in a UK-wide series of public meetings held by the IPPR Centre for Economic Justice.

Pay - Average earnings in the North West grew from £440 per week in 2011 to £510 per week in 2018. This equates to growth of 2.1% per year. This growth was above average for the UK as a whole. However, around three in ten workers are still paid less than the Real Living Wage of £9.00 per hour (this is estimated to be the minimum needed to afford the cost of living).1International Competitiveness - The value of the goods exported in the North West in 2018 was £28bn, or £6,100 per working age person.2 Relative to the size of its population, the North West exported fewer goods than any other region in the UK other than Yorkshire and the Humber, and a third lower than the West Midlands. This is despite the proportion of jobs in manufacturing being very similar in the two regions, at around one in ten.3
In exports of services, the North West is performing much better. In 2016/17 the North West exported £13bn of services, or £3,000 per working-age person – more per person than any of the rest of the North, the Midlands and Wales.4
Government Investment - Government investment per person in housing and amenities has been among the lowest in the North West over the past 5 years , with estimated average investment of just £60 per person per year. This is significantly lower than the UK average of £110 per person.5
References
  1. IPPR analysis, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ONS)
  2. IPPR analysis, using Goods Exports by Region (uktradeinfo) and working age population estimates (ONS)
  3. Workforce jobs by industry (SIC 2007) – seasonally adjusted (ONS)
  4. IPPR analysis, uses Service Exports by region (experimental statistics, ONS) and working age population estimates by region (ONS)
  5. IPPR analysis, using HMT Country and Regional Analysis, identifiable capital expenditure on housing and amenities 2013-14 to 2017-18 and population estimates by region (ONS)

Related items

  1. The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, River Thames and Westminster Bridge

    Taxing choices: Taking the public’s temperature ahead of the budget

    The stakes for a government are rarely higher than at a budget. Every chancellor has dealt with this differently. Ken Clarke would draft his budget speech with cigars and whisky, Gordon Brown pored over every word in what officials called…
  2. Scottish parliament building at Holyrood and Calton Hill, Edinburgh

    Great expectations: Rejuvenating the national debate in Scotland

    Fresh IPPR Scotland polling shows that politicians must raise their game if next year’s election is a to be serious debate about the challenges facing Scotland and potential solutions. 
  3. A Black man in a bright orange high vis jacket and hard hat stands in the middle of a road holding a sign that says 'STOP - WORKS'

    Unfinished business: Redressing inequality in British policy and Black lives

    As conversations about race and equality continue to evolve, Black History Month remains a powerful invitation to pause, reflect, and recommit to progress.