Productivity measures can indicate how well a country can use its human and physical resources to generate economic growth. Strong economic growth will generally mean an improvement in living standards. Data on productivity come from the Office for National Statistics.

The statistics show that on average London is by far the most economically productive area of the country, but that after this, average productivity is similar for other types of area. Gross Value Added (GVA) in Predominantly Rural areas comes from a range of industries, and while proportionally less comes from finance and business than Predominantly Urban areas, this industry contributes around 18 percentage points to the economic activity in rural areas.

Indicators (see download below)

• Gross Value Added per Job
• Gross Value Added by Broad Industrial Sector 

Coverage: England

Rural definition used: Local Authority Rural Urban Classification; NUTS3 Rural Urban Classification

Next release date: Analysis of 2011 data to be published January 2014

In addition to these indicators, regression analysis has been performed to identify the key drivers of productivity and understand whether rurality plays a part.  The report on this investigation is titled ‘Drivers of Productivity’ and can be found in the ‘Downloads’ section below.

Enquiries and feedback: Please contact us if you need further information. We’d also like to know what you use this release for, or if you think it could be improved. Please email: rural.statistics@defra.gsi.gov.uk or phone:++44 (0)1904 455251

Downloads

31 January 2013

• Productivity-Jan2013 (pdf, 481 KB)

14 December 2011

• Drivers of Productivity (pdf, 391 KB)