Key Data

  • In 2007, 2.5 million people, or 82.5% of the working age population, were economically active in South West England, the second highest regional rate after the South East.
  • The region has an ageing population - in 2006, 19% of the population was over 65 (England 16%); by 2029 this is projected to rise to 26% (England 22%).
  • In the last quarter of 2007, 79.0% of working age females was economically active in the South West, a higher proportion than any other English region and well above the England average (74.0%).
  • Economic activity rates vary across the region from 86.7% in South Gloucestershire to 76.7% in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (April 2006 to March 2007).
  • 27% of working age people in employment worked part time compared to 24% for England, although female workers were around four times more likely to be employed part time than males.
  • On average South West England employees worked 33.2 hours per week in 2007, the shortest working week of any English region.
  • 14% of the working age people in employment was self employed - men were twice as likely to be self employed as women.
  • At 3.7% of the economically active population aged 16 and over (Q4 2007), South West England had the lowest unemployment rate of any English region.
  • Unemployment rates vary considerably across the region – from 1.5% in North Somerset to 7.9% in Plymouth (albeit with a relatively large confidence interval due to smaller sample sizes) in 2006/07.  
  • Over three quarters of all employment in the South West is in the service sector.
  • Almost 50,000 manufacturing jobs were lost in the region between 2001 and 2005.
  • The median weekly wage for a full time employee in the South West was £428 per week in 2007 - this equates to 93% of the English average, 98% excluding London, which heavily biases the figures.