
• Gross Value Added in South East Wales was £19.0 billion in 2004. South East Wales is home to 32,000 VAT registered businesses and has a workforce of 640,000 people.
• At £14,800, GVA per head of the population in South East Wales in 2004 was 87 per cent of the UK average.
• There are 361 VAT registered businesses per 10,000 working age population in South East Wales, compared to 475 for Wales and 519 across the UK.
• At 6.2 per cent, the unemployment rate in South East Wales for the year to March 2007 was above that for Wales as a whole and the UK (both 5.3 per cent).
• The employment rate in South East Wales was 69.7 per cent of the working age population, a little below the Wales average and well below the UK average (71.0 and 74.1 per cent respectively).
• The service sector accounted for 79 per cent of jobs in South East Wales in 2005, a little above the figure for Wales (77 per cent) but below the average for the UK (81 per cent).
• Full-time average earnings in South East Wales in April 2007 were £481.5 per week, above the £472.1 for Wales as a whole and 88 per cent of the UK average.
Source: StatsWales