Thinking comparatively – economic health of cities (UK and International)

Readers of our January newsletter will have spotted what we described as a Generally Depressing Picture (to differentiate from the December newsletter GPP - Greggs Per Population).   

As part of our regular Thinking Comparatively update, PolicyWISE looked at the 20-year economic health (or otherwise) of major cities across the UK and Ireland (using OECD statistics). What we found, with few exceptions (Dublin and Cork), was that the financial crisis and early years of austerity in the UK nations saw real stagnation (and contraction in some instances) in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Manchester, and Sheffield. But there are significant variations in the recovery stories before the pandemic. 

The graphs below show the stark difference between Manchester, Dublin, and other cities.  

Cardiff and Belfast’s similar sized economies have both been on slow journeys. It is striking to compare them to Cork (200%+ growth) or Edinburgh (50% increase) in the period to 2019. 

And while Manchester is the big beast of our English cities, as our friends at the Resolution Foundation have pointed out, there is a wider story when looking at Manchester’s (and Birmingham’s) productivity level compared to the GB average. 

Finally, we also had a quick look at the international twin cities of some of our selected cities.  

The data shows us that Krakow far outshines even Edinburgh’s strong performance with growth of 120%+, whilst Pittsburgh’s 40% increase easily outstrips its steel city sister Sheffield.  

Despite a few years of stagnation, Stuttgart’s GDP remains 5x that of Cardiff - and as further evidence of Ireland’s success, Cork’s GDP is now 3x that of its twin Rennes, despite being the same size in 2001. 

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Statistics from OECD