Report Shines Spotlight on State of the South West 

IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Wednesday 16th March 2011

People living in the South West live longer and enjoy a better quality life than most of the rest of the UK.  These are key findings from the wealth of information presented in the latest version of the ‘State of the South West’.  This on-line report, launched today by the South West Observatory provides a detailed picture of people, jobs and quality of life across the region. At a time when the effects of recession, efforts to rebalance the economy and radical reform of public services will impact on individuals and communities across the region, it shows that policy makers will have to take a long term view to address the needs of an ageing population, to retain young people and drive economic growth, and to mitigate the effects of climate change.

According to Professor Martin Boddy, Chair of the South West Observatory:

“Over the course of the next year households will face mounting food and energy bills, rising inflation and for many the threat of wage cuts and unemployment.  The outlook in the short term is very challenging – but we do see the region getting back on track.   But what this report does show are the real challenges which the politicians and policy makers will have to address in the longer terms, challenges of meeting the needs of increasing numbers of older people, how we can provide jobs for young people in the region, secure our future prosperity whilst limiting impacts on the environment.  Securing continuing economic growth will be fundamental, but the focus for policy makers must above all be firmly on wellbeing and quality of life.  This is why the wide ranging analysis presented in the ‘State of the South West’ is so important.”

Top 10 Facts from the Report:

1. The region is amongst the fastest growing in the whole of the UK. The buoyant economy and successful business attract people from across the UK to work in the region.  And the environment attracts in many who are downsizing or reaching retirement. The current population is 5.2 million; a figure likely to rise to 6.3 million by 2033. By 2033 there will be an additional 800,000 living in the South West aged 60 and above. Currently, 1.3 million people living in the South West are aged 60+, by 2033 this is set to rise to 2.1 million (33% of the population).

2.The South West performs reasonably well in comparison with other areas in the country economically – but it performs extremely  well on more broadly defined measures of ‘wellbeing’ of the sort that David Cameron has tasked the National Statistician to develop.   

3. Our economy has shown a surprising degree of resilience through the recession (the claimant count rose by the lowest percentage of the English regions and is now falling).

4. Climate change is a very real threat to the region and its coastal areas - 204,000 properties are at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea of which 116,000 are residential and 68,000 commercial. In 2009, 9% of new dwellings were built within areas of high flood risk.

5. And climate change is happening - annual daily mean temperature in the South West increased by 1.37 degrees Celsius between 1961 – 2006. The absolute sea level around the region has risen by around 1mm/yr over the 20th Century.

6. It’s official: people from the South West like going out! On average we spend over £5 more a week on our recreation and culture activities than the national average.

7. People in the South West live longer than in most other regions in England. Women in the South West have the joint highest life expectancy of 83.3 years and men one of the highest at 79.2 years. The English average life expectancy for women is 82.3 and for men is 78.3. But there are big differences within local areas. For example, men living in the most deprived quintile of North Somerset die almost 10 years earlier than their neighbours in the least deprived quintile.

8. Obesity in the South West is rising. Just over a quarter of men in the South West are estimated to be obese (27%), a doubling from 13% in 1993, and nearly a quarter of women (23%) in the South West are estimated to be obese, an increase from 16% in 1993. These figures are broadly similar to England as a whole, where an estimated 24% of men and 25% of women were obese in 2008.

9. We make a lot of cups of tea in the South West.  In 2009, the South West had the third highest level of domestic electricity consumption in Great Britain at 4,448 kWh of electricity per consumer, over 7.1% higher than the national average of 4,152 kWh.

10. The South West is now the most popular holiday destination in the UK, particularly for domestic 'staycations'.