UK ODA Increase Of 2% On 2011

The Department for International Development recently published its annual overview of the official UK contribution to international development. It contains the finalised estimates for 2012 and updates the provisional estimates of March 2013. It focuses on Official Development Assistance (ODA), the key international aid measure. The UK is committed to investing 0.7% of gross national income (GNI) on official development assistance, the target originally set in 1970 by the UN General Assembly.

The key statistics concerning Official Development Assistance (ODA) in this publication include the UK’s ODA/GNI ratio for 2012 was 0.56 per cent, which is the same level as 2011. This estimate is unchanged from the provisional release published in March 2013.

In 2012 the UK reported £8,766m as Official Development Assistance (ODA), an increase of £137m (2 per cent) on 2011 levels making it the 2nd largest OECD-DAC Donor in terms of volume. The UK reported £5,496m of ODA as Net Bilateral in 2012, an increase of £210m (4 per cent) on 2011 levels and £3,270m of ODA as Net Multilateral, a decrease of £73m (2 per cent) on 2011 levels.

The publication also covers regional and sectoral breakdowns of ODA. The African region received the largest amount of UK Net Bilateral ODA, £2,174m in 2012, an increase of 2 per cent on 2011 levels. The top three recipients of UK Net Bilateral ODA in 2012 were India (£292m) Afghanistan (£274m), and Ethiopia (£266m). The health sector received the largest amount of UK Net Bilateral ODA, £1,076m in 2012.

The Department for International Development’s (DFID) ODA spend was £7,593m, 87 per cent of total UK ODA in 2012. Other UK Government Departments and Sources of UK ODA spend was £1,173m, accounting for the remaining 13 per cent of total UK ODA in 2012.

Fatalities In The Workplace

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) fatalities in the workplace provisional statistics for 2012-13 say that the number of workers fatally injured at work fell in the year 2012-13 to 148. The figure of 148 is 18% lower than the average for the last five years and gives a fatal injury ratio of 0.5 deaths per 100,000 workers, down from the 5-year average of 0.6 per 100,000. The summary also tells us that 113 members of the public were also fatally injured in accidents related to work. The figure excludes 310 related to railways (including suicide and trespass).

The main industry sectors in terms of fatalities breakdown as follows: agriculture 29; mining and quarrying 2; manufacturing 20; gas, electricity and water 12; construction 39 and services 46. When applying a ration of fatal injuries per 100,000 workers the statistics are as follows: agriculture 8.8; manufacturing 0.7; gas electricity and water 8.2; construction 1.9; and services 0.2, and all industries 0.5.

When fatal injuries suffered by members of the public are included the total figure for all industries rises to 571. There were 7 fatalities among members of the public in agriculture, 1 in manufacturing 4 in gas, electricity and water, 3 of which were in waste and recycling, 5 in construction and 406 in services.

Regional comparison of number and rate of fatal injuries of the 148 shows that the North East recorded 2 fatalities in 2012-13 and a 5 year average of 6. The South East reported 22 fatalities and a 5 year average of 16. Scotland also reported a total of 22 and a 5 year average of 22. It should be noted that there are strong regional differences in industry and occupation variables.

Healthy Life Years To Go

Healthy life years measure the number of years a person can expect to live in a generally healthy condition. At birth, in 2011, men and women in the EU27 could expect to live to 62 years. At 50 people could expect to live another 18 years and at 65 people in Europe culd expect another 9 healthy years of life.

A healthy condition is defined as the absence of limitations to functioning/disability. It is measured by a self-perceived questionnaire asking for the extent of any limitations lasting for over 6 months and caused by a health problem. The indicator of healthy life years measures the number of years a person can expect to live without any serious health problems. It means the respondenets can carry on their usual activities.

At birth, men and women in Sweden and Malta can expect to live to over 70 years. The lowest numbers of healthy life years were 52 in Slovakia and 54 in Slovenia for both men and women. At 50 both women and men were expected to have more than another 20 years in Sweden, Malta and Denmark, Luxembourg, Ireland and the UK. The lowest was Slovakia with 10 years for both men and women. At 65, highest healthy life years were in Sweden with an additional 15 years for women and 14 for men and the lowest Was Slovakia with 3 and 4 years respectively.

Business Start-Ups Up In 2011

The number of business start-ups increased by 11.2% between 2010 and 2011 according to a recent statistical bulletin on business demography from the ONS. The increase of 26,000 brought the total number of business births to 261,000. The number of businesses that ceased trading fell by 20,000 to 230,000 or 7.9% during the same period.

Regionally, the highest number of start-ups was seen in London with a start-up rate of 14.6% or 61,000. The North East with 11.2% and the North West with 11.1% also figured among the regions at the top of the table. The highest rate for businesses ceasing to trade was in the North West with 10.7% or 25,000, then London with 10.4%.

The information and communication category saw the highest rate of increase in start-ups with an increase of 14.8% followed by professional, scientific and technical with 14.3% and business administration and support services with 14.1%. Business administration and support services also saw the biggest numbers cease trading with a rate of 11.9% follwed by finance and insurance at 11.5%. The highest numbers were in professional, scientific and technical with 39,000, construction at 35,000 and business administration and support services with 25,000.

The UK 5-year survival rate for businesses starting in 2006 to 2011 was 45%. The highest 5-year survival rate was seen in N.Ireland with 50.5%, the lowest was in London with 41.8%. The industry group with the highest survival rate was health with 60% and education with 52.8%. Hotels and catering was lowest with 35.7% lasting 5 years.

Slight Fall In Unemployment

The unemployment rate for June to August was 7.9% down 0.2% compared with March to May 2012. There were 2.53m unemployed down 50,000 on March to May. The employment rate for June to August was 71.3% up 0.5% on March to May with 29.59m people in work, up 212,000 on March to May and 510,000 on last year. The number of people in full-time work increased by 88,000 between March/May and June/August and part-time work by 125,000 but between June/August 2007 and June/August 2012 the number of people in full-time employment has fallen by 355,000 and the number of people in part-time employment has increased by 724,000. The number of unemployed people fell by 50,000 between March/May and June/August 2012 but increased by 883,000 between June/August 2007 and June/August 2012. The inactivity rate was down. There were 9.04m (22.5%) economically inactive people in June to August, down 138,000 on March to May and 314,000 on last year. There were 476,000 job vacancies for July to September 2012, up 3,000. There were 1.8 vacancies per 100 employee jobs. The largest increase in jobs between March and June 2012 was in the professional, scientific and technical sector with an increase of 87,000. The largest fall in jobs was recorded in the human health and social work sector with a decrease of 60,000 jobs. There pay rises in the June to August period. Total pay increased by 1.7% and regular pay increased by 2% on last year. Average total pay in August was £473/week and average regular pay was £444/week. The unemployment rate was highest in the North East with 9.9%. It was lowest in the South West with 5.8%. The largest decreases in the unemployment rate were in the North West with 1.1% and the North East with 0.9%. The highest employment rate was in the East of England with 74.6% followed by the South West (74.6%) and the South East (74.4%) and lowest in the North East with 67.9%. The inactivity rate was also highest in the North East with 24.6% and it was lowest in the East of England with 19.9%. The North East also had the highest Claimant Count with 7.7%. The lowest Claimant Count was in the South East with 3%.

Service Sector The Biggest Employer In Europe

The latest Labour Force Survey from Eurostat says that almost 70% of employed persons in the EU27 were employed in the service sector in 2011. The latest figure compares with 62% in 2000. Market services accounted for 39%, non-market services 30%, industry and construction 25% and agriculture 5%. Market services includes trade and transportation, financial services, administration and support services, professional and scientific services, accomodation and food services and non-market services include public administration, arts, entertainment and recreation, education and health.

Fall Of 0.2% In GDP

The preliminary estimates of GDP published by the ONS show that GDP fell by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2012. Output fell in the production and construction indistries by 0.4% and 3% respectively but services grew by 0.1% following a decrease of 0.1% in the previous quarter. A closer analysis shows that the decreases in the production industries were driven by mining and quarrying and manufacturing. An increase in retail and food and beverage services contributed to the 0.1% increase in the distribution, hotels and restaurants sector and computer programming, consultancy and related services and motion picture, video and television production also made a significant contribution to the increase of 0.4% in transport, storage and communication. Financial services made the biggest contribution to the 0.1% decrease in business services and finance and health and sports activities, amusement and recreation made the biggest contribution to the 0.2% increase in government and other services. Agriculture, forestry and fishing fell by 1.9%.

Services Growth 0.8%

The index of services for February 2012 from the ONS increased by 0.8% compared with February 2011. The largest contributions to the increase of the three sectors that increased were from business services and finance and government and other services both of which grew by 1.1%. On the monthly analysis the sector fell by 0.4%. The increase in business services and finance came mainly from professional services activities with an increase of 5.1% and administrative and support activities with 4% growth. Government and other services increase came mainly from increases in human health and social work activities which increased by 2.3%. The only one of the four major components of the index to see a decrease was distribution, hotels and restaurants which fell by 0.2%.

Service Sector Increases Growth

The index of services published by the ONS shows that the services sector grew by 2.4% in December 2011 compared with December 2010. All components of the service sector index reported growth. The biggest contributors to the increase were business services and finance which grew by 2.9% and government and other services which grew by 2.3%. The sector also increased on the monthly comparison by 0.2%.

The main contributors of the five components of the business services and finance section were other professional services and real estate. All five components showed an increase. Output increased in five of the six components of the government and other services category with human health and social work activities providing the main contribution with an increase of 3.1%

The public strike on the 30 November probably has an effect on the index but it is difficult to measure the effect directly.

Business Survey Estimates Fall In Number Of Jobs

The Business Register and Employment Survey estimates that for September 2010 there were 26.8m employees, down 134,000 on 2009. Tha largest fall among the countries of the UK was in Scotland at 73,000.

The region with the most employees was London with 4.1m (15.3% of UK employees) next came the South East with 3.7m (13.8%). London also had the highest proportion of full-time employees at 74.1%. Other regions had less than 70%. The regions with the lowest number of employees were Northern Ireland with 705,000 (2.6%) and the North East with 999,000 (3.7%) with over a third part-time.

In the UK as a whole, there were 18.1m full-time and 8.7m part-time employees. The health sector continued to have the largest number of employees with 3.6m. The industry with the lowest number of employees was agriculture, forestry and fishing with 214,000 (0.8%). Construction employment decreased the most down 118,000 employees. Mining, quarrying and utilities had the largest proportion of full-time workers at 93.3%. The retail sector had the largest proportion of part-time workers at 57.2%. Business administration and support services grew by 62,000.

Business And Finance Lead Services Growth In February

The seasonally adjusted index of services from the ONS increased by 1.5% in February 2011 compared with February 2010. All of the five components of the index recorded an increase but the largest increase was in business services and finance with an increase of 1.5%. The largest contribution to the increase was from computer services with 7.1% which contributed 1.5 percentage points to the 1.5% increase.

Looking at the most recent month on a year earlier distribution increased by 1.6% with wholesale contributing 3.7%. Transport, storage and communication increased by 2.7% with post and telecommunications contributing a 7.7% increase or 3 percentage points to the 2.7% increase. Government and other services increased by 1.2%. Health and social care made the largest contribution with an increase of 4.3% or 1.4% to the increase. Hotels and restaurants increased by 0.5%.

Services Output 2.1% Up On Year

The Index of Services, published by the ONS, rose 2.1% over the year from May 2009 to 102.5 in May 2010 (seasonally-adjusted). All five components increased in the most recent month on a year earlier. The biggest rise was in business services and finance which rose 2.5%. It rose 1% over the month.

Distribution output increased by 4.5% notably motor trades which rose by 12.5% and retail which rose by 4.1%. Government and other services increased by 1% within which the greatest contribution was from health and social work which contributed 2.6% in output and 0.9 to the overall 1%.

Animal Health Planning Pays

The Farm Business Survey included an animal health and welfare module asking some general questions about animal health planning. It also included more detailed questions on livestock type, expenditure and disease prevention and veterinary expenses.

The analysis carried out on the data collected showed that 73% of farms had a formal written plan for at least one of the livestock species they kept. The principal reason for the health plan was for marketing and farm assurance schemes.

Beef farms with health plans had mortality rates 1.8% lower than farms with no plans and enterprise output (EO) was £10/head higher. They spent £2/head less on vet & med expenses and expenditure on routine vet costs on farms with no plans was double that of farms with plans. A total of 54% of farms with plans were in the low mortality group. Calf mortality was highest in the group with no formal health plans.

Vet & med expenditure on dairy farms did not vary much with economic performance on herd size but the higher performing farms spent more on routine vet services and had the lowest overall mortality rate. The high performance farms were also those with the largest average herd size though they did also have the highest incidence rate for mastitis. The dairy farms with the higher mortality rates spent less on routine vet services and more on non-routine services than farms with lower mortality rates.

Mortality rates on sheep farms without health plans were highest at 7.1% on average. Lamb and ewe mortality was lower overall for farms with formal written plans or instructions and the average EO was £7 higher per breeding ewe than for farms without a plan. Farms with higher mortality rates generally spent less on vet & med than those with lower mortality rates.

Mortality rates on pig farms of all types was 11%. Where the sample was of breeding herds selling weaned or fat pigs the mortality rate went up to 15% and where the holding type was fattening, rearing or other the rate went down to 5%. It was not possible to produce analysis by plan type due to a shortage of the relevant data.

Vets are the main source of information for animal health matters for farmers. Less than a sixth of farmers had specific animal health insurance. The most likely to have insurance were dairy farmers followed by beef, pigs and sheep.

GDP Falls Over The Quarter, Record Fall Over The Year

The final estimated UK GDP in volume terms increased by 0.3% on the previous quarter, the same as it was estimated in the previous estimate in May. GDP fell in volume by a record 4.9% during 2009. The household saving ratio was 6.9% and real household disposable income rose by 0.4% following a fall of 1% in the previous quarter.

GDP output by category shows that in agriculture, forestry and fisheries output fell by 2.2%. The production industries increased output by 1% over the quarter but output fell by 10.2% over 2009. Mining and quarrying output fell by 0.5% but manufacturing output rose by 1.4%. Electricity, gas and water utilities output increased by 0.4% but construction decreased by 1.6%. Services increased output by 0.3% but output in 2009 fell by 3.3% on 2008 while distribution, hotels and restaurants fell in all sub-categories and by 0.7% overall. Transport, storage and communication increased output by 0.2% due to weaker growth in land transport and post and telecommunications. Business services and finance output increased by 1% due to stronger growth in banking, renting and real estate. Government and other services reported an unchanged level of growth with output in health and social care increasing by 0.5% and other services increasing by 0.2%. Education decreased by 0.6% and public administration and defence output fell by 0.3%.

GDP can also be analysed using expenditure categories. Gross domestic expenditure incrrased by 1.2%. Household final consumption expenditure fell by 0.1% and so the volume of spending in 0.2% lower than Q1 2009. Government final consumption expenditure increased by 1.5% from 0.1% in the previous quarter. Gross fixed capital formation increased by 4.4% compared with a fall of 1.7% in the previous quarter. The increase was mainly due to an increase of 7.8% in business investment which is still 7.7% lower than Q1 2009. General government investment increased by 6.5%. In 2009 gross fixed capital formation decreased by 15% compared with 5% a year earlier. Inventories decreased by £2.2bn. The trade deficit increased to £10.4bn.

The GDP implied deflator at market prices was 2.9% above the same quarter 2009 and increased by 1.7% over the quarter 2010. GDP at market prices increased by 2.1% over the quarter but fell by 3.7% in 2009.

ONS And CBI See Fall In Business Services Output

Services output seasonally adjusted chained volume of gross value added index fell by 1.2% quarter-on-quarter to 113.3 and follows a fall of 1.3% on the previous three months according to Office for National Statistics latest Index of Services figures. The most significant fall in both quarter-on-quarter and in month-on-month figures was in business services and finance. Distribution fell 0.2% in the quarter to March compared to the quarter to December. It is the 9th consecutive monthly fall, driven mainly by wholesale, motor trades also decreased and retail increased. Hotels and restaurants fell by 5.1% over same period. There were also significant decreases in bars and restaurants. Transport, storage and communications fell by 2.3%. Business services and finance fell 2.2% to 121.7 in the quarter to March on the quarter to December and fell 0.4% between February and March. Government services increased by 0.7% in the quarter to March with the most significant increases in health and social work.

The Confederation of British Industry released its quarterly Services Sector Survey results today. It shows the service sector is still is deep recession. There are some signs of confidence returning. Consumer services fell at their fastest rate since November 2001. The rise in prices made the fall in business values look less marked. Business and professional services values fell faster than volumes due to record deflation in prices. Rates of decline are expected to slow down in both consumer services and business and professional services over the next three months. Employment is continuing to fall in both sectors. Profitability also fell but at a slower rate than the record falls of the previous quarter. Business and professional services show a similar pattern. A steep downward trend continues in telecomms and computing and transport of goods and post. Marketing services also show a continued downward trend in business values and volumes but much less marked. Confidence and profitability have both fallen. There are some signs that the decline is begining to slow.