Introduction
2.1 This chapter is a regional evaluation of the South West’s economy. Due to the geographical size and diverse nature of its economy, the analysis has been supported by additional sub-regional information. Economies, however, do not operate in isolation and the performance of the region has been placed within a national and global context where appropriate. By examining the region in the round, the report gives a greater insight into the region’s strengths and weaknesses and the challenges it faces in the future.
2.2 The chapter is broken down into three discrete but interlinked sections. Economic performance is set in the context of recent world trends and is explored in terms of output, productivity and income. The following section examines the industrial structure of the economy, exploring the composition and contribution of the various industrial sectors. South West England’s 'productivity gap’ is discussed in the final section through the framework of the treasury’s five productivity drivers: competitiveness, enterprise, investment, innovation and skills.
2.3 Analysis of regional economies in the United Kingdom is limited by the availability of accurate, detailed and timely data. Regional statistics are hampered by small survey sizes, large revisions, lack of timeliness and scope for misinterpretation. As regional economic statistics are often not available until some considerable time after the event, the following analysis is inevitably a description of the past rather than the present.