Key Statistics from the Article:

Wages
• UK average weekly workplace earnings: £715.50
• Welsh cities:
• Cardiff: £677.40
• Newport: £643.40
• Swansea: £607.20 (53rd out of 63 cities for earnings)
• London workers reach Burnley’s annual average wage (£29,500) by August, Cardiff by November, Newport mid-November, and Swansea by early December.

Urban vs Non-Urban Wages
• Urban areas in Wales: £647 weekly average
• Non-urban areas in Wales: £600 weekly average
• Both figures are among the lowest in the UK.

Economic Performance
• ‘Cutting-edge’ business activity:
• Cardiff: 31.4% (above UK average of 26.7%)
• Swansea: 14.3%
• Newport: 13.7%
• Gross Value Added (GVA): Swansea ranks among the lowest, at £28.8/hour, compared to the UK average of £36/hour.
• Business start-ups and closures: Swansea is 58th out of 63 cities, with a start-up rate of 31.2% and a churn rate of -0.7% (UK average: -0.3%).

Growth and Demographics
• Swansea is the UK’s second slowest-growing city: 3% population increase from 2003 to 2013 (UK average: 6.1%).
• Swansea has one of the lowest ratios of private to public sector jobs (1.7, compared to UK average of 2.8).

Education
• Cardiff has the highest percentage of people in Wales with no formal qualifications (11.4%, compared to UK average of 6.6%).

Housing
• Swansea had the UK’s second-highest house price increase:
• 2023: £193,700
• 2024: £196,500
• Lowest housing stock growth in the UK.

Environment
• Swansea ranks worst in the UK for greenhouse gas emissions per capita; Newport is also in the bottom 10.
• Poor air quality days in 2024:
• Swansea: 20 days
• Cardiff: 19 days

Overall Challenges
• All three Welsh cities (Cardiff, Swansea, Newport) are below their wage potential.
• Swansea is particularly weak in terms of wages, growth, productivity, and business activity.

by ambercivitas

3 comments

  1. The lack of educated people in Cardiff makes sense, and it’s one of the least cultured cities I’ve been to.

  2. There is clearly an error in the first paragraph. If Cardiff has the highest wages out of the three Welsh cities, then an average London worker will reach the same wages last (early December).

    Typical erroneous reporting by WOL.

  3. For a time I lived in Plymouth down in Devon, and upon visiting Cardiff I found the capital city of our Celtic neighbours over the BC to be more cultured and pleasant overall.

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