Farming Incomes Up In English Regions

All English regions have seen an increase in their total farm incomes over the past five years according to a statistical release from Defra. Total income from farming in England as a whole increased by 19% and regional increases range from 9% in the South West to 33% in the East Midlands.

Agriculture makes an important contribution to the national economy. It contributed 0.61% to the economy but contributions vary from region to region. At local level the contribution of agriculture to the local economy ranged from 0.17% in the South East to 1.26% in the South West. It contributes least to the local economy in London and the South East.

England can be divided geographically into livestock farming areas in the north and west and arable areas in the south and east. This is reflected in the fact that livestock output was most prominent in the South West and the North West and crops were predominant in the East of England.

In England as a whole, agriculture's contribution to the economy was £7,125m (0.61%) and employed 1.14% of the workforce.

Household Wealth By Region And Age

The age group in which wealth is the highest is the 45-64 year old group. Wealth remains relatively high in the 65+ age group but the age group with the lowest wealth is the group 25-44 year olds in which there are children and young adults.

The impact of region on household wealth is least is the 25-44 age group with larger regional differences in the 45-64 and 65+ age groups. A higher share of wealthy individuals live in the South East than in any other region. The North East region has relatively less wealthy households than other regions. It is particularly so for those aged over 65 and more people over 65 live in households with total wealth below £50,000 than those with total wealth over £500,000. In London 22% of 45-64 year olds live in households with wealth over £1m and 18% with less than £50,000.

The sources of wealth most likely to make the difference in wealth distribution are pension wealth and property wealth. The regional variation is greater for property wealth. People over 65 with net property wealth of over £250,000 are distributed regionally and total 41% for London, 38% in the South East, 32-33% in the East of England and the South West and 10-15% in the North East, North West, Yorkshire and Humber and Scotland and Wales. The share of individuals living with a negative net financial wealth varies from 21% in Scotland to 35% in the North East.

Total Income From Farming Up Across The Country

The second estimate of agriculture in the English regions from Defra suggests that total income from all farming increased significantly in all NUTS1 regions in 2011. The North East had the largest increase with 38% and the East Midlands had the next largest increase with 33% on 2010. The smallest increases were in the North West and the West Midlands with a 20% increase in each.

Total income from farming has increased in all NUTS1 regions, in the medium term, between 2005 and 2011. The South East has seen increases of 364 to 464 and the North East 191 to 291. The smallest increases were in the East of England (224%) and the West Midlands (225%).

The relative importance of agriculture to each region can be seen in its share of regional gross value added (GVA) and the regional workforce. The greatest contribution to GVA in 2011 was made in the South West with 1.3% and the least in the South East with 0.19%. In England as a whole agriculture contributed 0.64% to GVA.

Agriculture made its greatest contribution to the regional workforce in the South West with 2.22% and the least in the South East with 0.5%. The industry contributed 1.1% to the workforce in England as a whole.

GVA Fall In All Regions 2009

Gross Value Added (GVA) GVA and GVA per head fell in all regions of the UK in 2009 due to the impact of the recession. There was still a wide variation in the extent of the effect. The East of England had the biggest fall. Scotland had the smallest decline. London had the highest share of GVA in the UK with 21.5% and the South East was next with 14.3%. The North East had the lowest share in England with 3.3%. England had 85.8% of GVA and N. Ireland 2.3% (of the 12 NUTS1 Levels).

At the level of the 37 NUTS2 sub-regions, the top five included Inner London and North East Scotland the bottom five included West Wales and the Valleys, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Lincolnshire and Tees Valley and Durham. London had the biggest share of GVA per head with £60,686 the lowest was West Wales and the Valleys with £12,860. GVA per head increased in all NUTS2 sub-regions in 2008.

Breaking the statistics down to the 133 NUTS3 local areas level the top area was Inner London West the bottom area the Isle of Anglesey. The City of Edinburgh was second highest and then Inner London East.

House Prices Up 10.1% On Last Year

The House Price Index (HPI) from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) for April 2010 went up by 10.1% between April 2009 and April 2010 and 0.4% on March. The average house price was £207,516 in April 2010 and the all dwellings index was 174.4.

Annual average house prices in England went up 10.9%, in Scotland 2.2% and in Wales 11.3% but N.Ireland house prices fell by 8.9%. First time buyers paid 12.2% more than a year ago. Average prices for former owner/occupiers were 9.3% higher. New properties were 7.6% more than last year and pre-owned houses were up 10.3%.

House prices rose in all regions of the UK except Yorkshire and Humber where prices fell 0.5%. East Midlands saw the biggest increase with a rise in prices of 2.7%. Over the year to April all regions have seen an increase in house prices. The largest increases were in London where there were price rises of 16.8%.

The average price for a house in England in April was £214,863, in Scotland £162,392, in Wales £151,079 and in N.Ireland £163,201. The English region with the highest average house price was London. The North East was the lowest with £139,595. The regions with an average house price above the national average were the East of England, London, the South East and the South West.

Wild Birds In Britain's Countryside

A recent statistical release from Defra provides the latest figures on the bird populations on farmland and woodland and all-native wild birds in the English Government Office Regions between 1994-2008.

The statistics say that between 1994-2008 farmland birds declined by 10% or more in five of the Government's Regions namely the South-West, South East, the East of England, the East Midlands and the West Midlands. The South East reported the largest decline of 23% below the 1994 baseline. The overall farmland birds indicator fell by 11% in that period. At the national level, there were declines of over 25% in Corn Bunting, Linnet, Grey Partridge, Yellow Wagtail, Starling and Turtle Dove and increases of over 25% in Jackdaw, Goldfinch, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon and Whitethroat.

The woodland bird indicator increased by more than 10% between 1994 and 2008 in four regions - the North West, the North East, Yorkshire and Humberside and the East Midlands. The indicator fell in two regions, the South East and the South West. The largest regional increase was in the North West at 43%. Yorkshire and Humberside came next with a 31% increase. The overall woodland bird indicator for England fell 6% over the same period. Nationally, there were declines of over 50% in Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Chiffchaff and Green Woodpecker and increases of over 50% in Spotted Flycatcher, Wood Warbler and Willow Tit.

The all-native bird indicator for England increased by 3%. The all-native bird population indicator increased by 10% in three regions, Yorkshire and Humberside, the North East and the North West. The biggest increase was in the North West with 26%.

The data for the Defra statistical reports were based on annual data from the British Trust for Ornithology's Breeding Bird Survey (BBS).

Productivity Down By 1.4%

Whole economy output/worker productivity decreased by 1.4% Q4 2009 compared with same period last year from a fall of 3.3% on the previous quarter. Quarter-on-quarter output/worker productivity increased 0.5% up from 0.2% in the previous quarter. Output fell by 2.8% in the quarter from a fall of 4.9% in the previous quarter. Another measure of productivity looks at it in terms of output per hour worked. Using this measure, productivity fell by 0.3% in Q4 2009 compared with last year. Total hours worked fell by 2.5% on last year. Comparing the sectors shows that manufacturing output/hour increased by 3.9% and services decreased by 1.2%.

In the service industries output/job fell by 2% in Q4 2009 compared with the previous year. The fall in the previous quarter was 3.4%. Output/hour deceased by 1.2% from 2.3% in the previous quarter. Business services and finance output/job fell 3.9% and output/hour fell 3%. Manufacturing output/job productivity increased by 2.8% and output/hour increased by 3.9% on the same quarter last year. Unit wage costs were up 2.4% on last year's 4.2%. In agriculture, forestry and fisheries, slow growth sectors, output/job fell by 7.4% and output/hour by 13.5%. Manufacturing unit wage costs increased by 0.4%.

Across the regions in 2008, productivity measures show GVA per job to be highest in London at 140.9 (national average = 100) and lowest in Wales and Northern Ireland at 84. Scotland was 95.4. In England, the average was 101.8, the lowest were the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber at 87.4. The GVA per hour measure shows London the highest at 132.7 and Northern Ireland the lowest at 81.4. Wales reported 86.4 and Scotland 96.3. In England, the average was 101.7 but the lowest was the North West at 87.9. GVA per head was highest in London with 170.6, and lowest was Wales with 74. Northern Ireland reported 78.7 and Scotland 97.5. In England the lowest was the North East with 77. The average for England was 102.5.