Economy of Wales - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Economy of Wales. In 2010, according to ONS

Office for National Statistics

The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...

provisional data, headline gross value added

Gross value added

Gross Value Added ' is a measure in economics of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy...

(GVA) in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

was £44,517m, making the Welsh economy the tenth largest of the UK's twelve regions (counting Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland alongside the nine English Government Office Regions) ahead of only Northern Ireland and the North East of England. The modern Welsh economy is dominated by the service sector. In 2000, services contributed 66% to GVA, the manufacturing

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...

sector contributed 32%, while agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

, forestry

Forestry

Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...

and fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

contributed 1.5%.

As with the rest of the United Kingdom, the currency used in Wales is the pound sterling

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

, represented by the symbol £
Pound sign
The pound sign is the symbol for the pound sterling—the currency of the United Kingdom . The same symbol is used for similarly named currencies in some other countries and territories, such as the Irish pound, Gibraltar pound, Australian pound and the Italian lira...

. The Bank of England

Bank of England

The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...

is the central bank, responsible for issuing currency, although banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland also have the right to issue their own banknotes. The Royal Mint

Royal Mint

The Royal Mint is the body permitted to manufacture, or mint, coins in the United Kingdom. The Mint originated over 1,100 years ago, but since 2009 it operates as Royal Mint Ltd, a company which has an exclusive contract with HM Treasury to supply all coinage for the UK...

, which issue the coinage circulated over the whole of the UK, have been based at a single site in Llantrisant

Llantrisant

Llantrisant is a town in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf in Wales, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying on the River Ely and the Afon Clun. The town's name translates as The Parish of the Three Saints. The three saints in question are St Illtyd, St Gwynno and St...

, south Wales since 1980, having been progressively transferring operations from their Tower Hill

Tower Hill

Tower Hill is an elevated spot northwest of the Tower of London, just outside the limits of the City of London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Formerly it was part of the Tower Liberty under the direct administrative control of Tower...

, London site since 1968. Since decimalisation

Decimalisation

Decimal currency is the term used to describe any currency that is based on one basic unit of currency and a sub-unit which is a power of 10, most commonly 100....

, in 1971, at least one of the coins in UK circulation has depicted a Welsh design, e.g. the 1995 and 2000 one Pound coin (shown right). However, Wales has not been represented on any of the coins minted since 2007.

Economic output per head has been lower in Wales than in other parts of the UK (and most other parts of Western Europe) for a very long time - in 2002 it stood at 90% of the EU25 average and around 80% of the UK average. However, care is needed in interpreting these data, since regional GDP/GVA per head data in the UK does not take account of regional differences in the cost of living, which in Wales is estimated to be 93-94% of the UK average. Thus the gap in real living standards between Wales and more prosperous parts of the UK is not as pronounced.

As the capital city

Capital City

Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....

of Wales

Wales

, Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

is the main engine of growth in the Welsh economy and has been developing as a significant service centre and economic driver for the wider south east Wales economy. The city and the adjoining Vale of Glamorgan

Vale of Glamorgan

The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in the southern part of Glamorgan, South Wales...

contribute a disproportionately high share of economic output in Wales. Cardiff is a centre for white-collar professions. The city relies principally on the retail, finance, media and tourism sectors and has been undergoing major regeneration since the late 20th century particularly in Cardiff city centre

Cardiff city centre

Cardiff city centre is the central business district of Cardiff, Wales. The area is tightly bounded by the River Taff to the west, the Civic centre to the north and railway lines and two railway stations - Central and Queen Street - to the south and east respectively...

and Cardiff Bay

Cardiff Bay

Cardiff Bay is the area created by the Cardiff Barrage in South Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The regeneration of Cardiff Bay is now widely regarded as one of the most successful regeneration projects in the United Kingdom. The Bay is supplied by two rivers to form a freshwater lake round the...

Tertiary

In recent years, the service sector in Wales has seen above average growth, however, in 2005 it still contributed a small share of GVA compared with most other regions of the UK. Wales does not have a favourable occupational structure, and a relatively high proportion of jobs are in public administration

Public administration

Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....

, health and education

Education in Wales

Education in Wales differs in certain respects from education elsewhere in the United Kingdom. For example, a significant number of students all over Wales are educated either wholly or largely through the medium of Welsh: in 2008/09, 22 per cent of classes in maintained primary schools used Welsh...

. Compared to more prosperous parts of the UK, Wales lacks high-value added service sector employment in sectors such as finance

Financial services

Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...

, business services and research and development

Research and development

The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...

. This is attributable in part to a comparative lack of agglomeration effects

Economies of agglomeration

The term economies of agglomeration is used in urban economics to describe the benefits that firms obtain when locating near each other . This concept relates to the idea of economies of scale and network effects...

, caused by the small size of towns and cities in Wales compared to some other UK regions and small countries.

With its mountainous landscape and numerous sandy beaches, Wales attracts significant tourism

Tourism in Wales

Wales is an emerging tourist destination, with 8,078,900 visitors to National Trust and Welsh Tourist Board destinations in 2002. The industry has been estimated to have an annual turnover of £3.5 billion....

. In 2002, nearly 13 million trips of one night or more were made in Wales, generating expenditure of £1.8 billion. 11.9 million of these trips were made by UK residents with 0.9 million coming from overseas. Cardiff is the most popular destination for visitors to Wales, with 11.7 million visitors in 2006.

Secondary

Wales has a diverse manufacturing

Manufacturing

sector. Heavy industry

Heavy industry

Heavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning as compared to light industry. It can mean production of products which are either heavy in weight or in the processes leading to their production. In general, it is a popular term used within the name of many Japanese and Korean firms, meaning...

, once a mainstay of the Welsh economy has largely been in decline over the past century but is still very apparent. Metal ore

Ore

An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....

refining is a long established industry in Wales. As of 2007, Corus

Corus Group

Tata Steel Europe is a multinational steel-making company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest steel-maker in Europe and is a subsidiary of Tata Steel of India, one of the ten largest steel producers in the world.Corus Group was formed through the merger of Koninklijke...

has manufacturing facilities at Port Talbot

Port Talbot

Port Talbot is a town in Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It had a population of 35,633 in 2001.-History:Port Talbot grew out of the original small port and market town of Aberafan , which belonged to the medieval Lords of Afan. The area of the parish of Margam lying on the west bank of the lower Afan...

, Llanwern

Llanwern

Llanwern is an electoral ward and community in the urban-rural fringe of the City of Newport, South Wales. Llanwern ward is bounded by the M4 and Langstone to the north, Ringland, Liswerry and the River Usk to the west, the River Severn to the south and the city boundary to the east...

, Newport

Newport

Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...

, Trostre

Llanelli

Llanelli , the largest town in both the county of Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed , Wales, sits on the Loughor estuary on the West Wales coast, approximately west-north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. The town is famous for its proud rugby...

, Shotton

Shotton

-Places:England* Shotton, Northumberland, a village in the County of Northumberland* Shotton, Peterlee, a village in County Durham* Shotton, Sedgefield, a village in County Durham* Shotton Colliery, a village in County DurhamWales...

, Ammanford, Pontardulais, Tafarnaubach

Blaenau Gwent

Blaenau Gwent is a county borough in South Wales, sharing its name with a parliamentary constituency. It borders the unitary authority areas of Monmouthshire and Torfaen to the east, Caerphilly to the west and Powys to the north. Its main towns are Abertillery, Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale and...

and Caerphilly

Caerphilly

Caerphilly is a town in the county borough of Caerphilly, south Wales, located at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley, with a population of approximately 31,000. It is a commuter town of Cardiff and Newport, which are located some 7.5 miles and 12 miles away, respectively...

, although only the Port Talbot Steelworks

Port Talbot Steelworks

Port Talbot Steelworks is an integrated steel production plant in Port Talbot, Wales capable of producing nearly 5 million tonnes of steel slab per annum. The majority of the slab is rolled on-site at Port Talbot and at the Newport Llanwern site to make a variety of steel strip products. The...

remains as a major integrated steelmaking plant. Nearly all the tinplate and much of the aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

produced in the UK are made in Welsh plants.

Milford Haven

Milford Haven (harbour)

Milford Haven Waterway is a natural harbour in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. The Haven is a ria or drowned valley flooded at the end of the last Ice Age. formed by the Pembroke River and the Daugleddau estuary, and winds west to the sea...

has two oil refineries

Oil refinery

An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...

which represent around a fifth of United Kingdom capacity.

Wales is an important producer of automotive components: Ford has a major engine plant at Bridgend

Bridgend

Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...

and BorgWarner

BorgWarner

BorgWarner Inc. is a United States-based worldwide automotive industry components and parts supplier. It is primarily known for its powertrain products, which include manual and automatic transmissions and transmission components, , turbochargers, engine valve timing system...

has a major components plant in Kenfig

Kenfig

Kenfig is a village and former borough in Bridgend, Wales.The borough contributed with other Glamorgan towns to sending a member of parliament to Westminster until the Reform Act of 1832...

, South Wales.

Timet has a plant in Waunarlwydd

Waunarlwydd

Waunarlwydd is a village near Swansea, Wales, falling within the Cockett ward.A mostly residential area, the pronunciation of Waunarlwydd is approximately like "Wine are Lloyd" in English...

, Swansea

Swansea

Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...

, which is one of the world's major suppliers of titanium

Titanium

Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....

for jet engine blades and medical applications.

During the 1980s and 1990s, a major growth sector in manufacturing was the electronics

Electronics

Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...

industry with over 130 North American and 35 Japanese companies establishing operations in Wales. However, this is a characteristic of a 'branch factory' economy where routine production is located in one region while higher skill activities are located in another.

Primary

In 2003, agriculture contributed £418 million to Welsh GVA, or 1.1% (including subsidies). 1.6m hectares (around 77% of Wales' total land area) is used for agricultural production and an estimated 57,500 people are directly employed in the sector. Farming is dominated by beef, sheep and the dairy

Dairy

A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...

sector, with the arable

Agronomy

Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...

sector accounting for 10% of agricultural output. Average farm size is 30-40 hectares, small by UK standards, and dominated by family-run enterprises.

Forest and woodland makes up 14% of the land area of Wales and there are 4,000 jobs in forest-based industries

Forestry

.

The Welsh fishing industry

Fishing industry

The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products....

is the smallest in the UK with approximately 1,000 full-time fishermen and a further 400 working on a part-time basis. The minor role that the Welsh industry holds is largely due to its geographical isolation, weak distribution networks and the demise of the Wales distant-water fleet from the 1960s onwards.

Gross Value Added

Gross Value Added (GVA)
Year	£ million	£ per head	Index of £ per head (UK=100)
1989	19,445	6,810	85
1990	20,990	7,335	84
1991	21,724	7,561	83
1992	22,659	7,874	83
1993	23,697	8,218	83
1994	25,049	8,675	83
1995	26,388	9,135	84
1996	27,518	9,517	82
1997	28,672	9,904	80
1998	29,787	10,273	79
1999	30,736	10,596	77
2000	31,898	10,973	77
2001	33,525	11,520	77
2002	35,252	12,074	77
2003	37,262	12,712	76
2004	39,340	13,352	76
2005	40,711	13,784	76
2006	42,697	14,396	75
2007	44,263	14,853	74
2008	45,610	15,237	74

Employment, unemployment and economic activity

According to the Welsh Government bulletin of economic statistics for November 2010, the Labour Force Survey estimates for the 3 months to September 2010 show that:

The employment rate in Wales was 67.1 per cent, unchanged from the same period a year earlier. The UK average was 70.8 per cent.
The ILO
International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that deals with labour issues pertaining to international labour standards. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. Its secretariat — the people who are employed by it throughout the world — is known as the...

unemployment rate in Wales was 8.1 per cent of the economically active, down from 8.8 per cent in the same period a year earlier. The UK average was 7.7 per cent.
The economic activity rate
Economic activity rate
Economic activity rate is the percentage of the population, both employed and unemployed, who constitutes the manpower supply of the labor market regardless of their current labor status....

in Wales was 73.3 per cent, down from 73.7 per cent in the same period a year earlier. The UK average was 76.8 per cent.
The claimant count
Jobseeker's Allowance
Jobseeker's Allowance is a United Kingdom benefit, colloquially known as the dole . It is a form of unemployment benefit paid by the government to people who are unemployed and seeking work. It is part of the social security benefits system and is intended to cover living expenses while the...

rate in October 2010 for Wales was 5.0 per cent of the workforce, down 0.7 percentage points on October 2009. The UK average was 4.5 per cent.

For statistical purposes, the Office for National Statistics

Office for National Statistics

The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...

divides Wales into 26 Travel to Work Area

Travel to Work Area

A Travel to Work Area or TTWA is a statistical tool used by UK Government agencies and local authorities, especially by the Department for Work and Pensions and Job Centres, to indicate an area where the population would generally commute to a larger town, city or conurbation for the purposes of...

s, collections of wards for which "of the resident economically active population, at least 75% actually work in the area, and also, that of everyone working in the area, at least 75% actually live in the area". Some of these areas span the border with England.

Small and medium-sized enterprises made up over 99% of the 190,000 businesses in Wales in 2006, but accounted for less than 60% of employment.

Regional variations

Over recent years, Cardiff, the northern and southern coastal belts and some rural parts of Wales have experienced the biggest increase in employment, while the South Wales Valleys

South Wales Valleys

The South Wales Valleys are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales, stretching from eastern Carmarthenshire in the west to western Monmouthshire in the east and from the Heads of the Valleys in the north to the lower-lying, pastoral country of the Vale of Glamorgan and the coastal plain...

and other industrial towns have suffered decline. This pattern probably reflects a combination of the increasing importance of quality of life

Quality of life

The term quality of life is used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies. The term is used in a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, and politics. Quality of life should not be confused with the concept of standard of...

factors in location decisions; the greater role played by the largest conurbations as centres of service sector businesses and the effects of skill-biased technical change on the demand for labour, disadvantaging 'skill poor' declining industrial districts.

Average earnings and employment vary considerably across Wales. Employment and earnings are generally higher in east Wales, especially in urban areas. In south west Wales and the Valleys, both employment and wages are generally lower, although earnings in Bridgend

Bridgend

and Neath Port Talbot

Neath Port Talbot

Neath Port Talbot is a county borough and one of the unitary authority areas of Wales. Neath Port Talbot is the 8th most populous county in Wales and the third most populous county borough....

, which are still centres of skilled manufacturing employment, are relatively good. In north and north west Wales, earnings are low but the employment rates are above the Welsh average.

A significant part of the earnings (and value-added per job) variations within Wales are due to structural factors such as economic mass and occupational mix rather than like-for-like lower pay or productivity

Productivity

Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of production. Productivity is a ratio of what is produced to what is required to produce it. Usually this ratio is in the form of an average, expressing the total output divided by the total input...

. Cardiff, with 324,800 people, benefits from its capital status, a hinterland in south east Wales and good connections to London, the Greater Bristol area and the M4 corridor

M4 corridor

The M4 corridor is the area in the United Kingdom adjacent to the M4 motorway, which runs from London to South Wales. The area is a major hub for high-technology companies...

. The city is the primary location for service sector activities in Wales, with 26 per cent of Welsh service sector output and 22 per cent of Welsh service sector employment, compared to 19 per cent of all employment in Wales. North east Wales benefits from proximity to Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

and Merseyside

Merseyside

Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...

and there is significant cross-border commuting

Commuting

Commuting is regular travel between one's place of residence and place of work or full time study. It sometimes refers to any regular or often repeated traveling between locations when not work related.- History :...

. The Valleys and the western areas of Wales have less economic mass and are more distant from major economic centres. These are some of the poorest regions in Europe and qualify for Objective One funding.

Many parts of Wales suffered from the continuous decline in heavy industry over the 20th century - culminating in the virtual disappearance of coal-mining in the 1980s. The demise of 'smokestack' industries left a legacy of relatively high unemployment and, although unemployment has declined in recent years, rates in West Wales

West Wales

West Wales is the western area of Wales.Some definitions of West Wales include only Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, an area which historically comprised the Welsh principality of Deheubarth., an area called "South West Wales" in the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics....

and the Valleys still tend to be higher than the Welsh average and economic inactivity (a form of hidden unemployment) continues to be a major problem in these areas. Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil is a town in Wales, with a population of about 30,000. Although once the largest town in Wales, it is now ranked as the 15th largest urban area in Wales. It also gives its name to a county borough, which has a population of around 55,000. It is located in the historic county of...

and Neath Port Talbot

Neath Port Talbot

Neath Port Talbot is a county borough and one of the unitary authority areas of Wales. Neath Port Talbot is the 8th most populous county in Wales and the third most populous county borough....

have some of the largest proportions of people in the UK not working due to long-term illness or disability, though some believe that in practice many individuals classified as "unable to work" through sickness are often actually low skilled workers incentivised to exit the labour market because of declining demand and the operation of the benefits system

Social security

Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...

Property

In November 2008, the average price of a house in Wales was £126,181, a fall of 11.7% since the previous year. The average house price in England and Wales as a whole was £161,883. In August 2008, average house prices in Wales ranged from £109,000 in Blaenau Gwent

Blaenau Gwent

to £238,000 in Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...

Transport

In 2001, Wales had 1708 km (1,061.3 mi) of trunk roads and motorways. The M4 motorway

M4 motorway

The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...

, A449

A449 road

The A449 is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs north from junction 24 of the M4 motorway at Newport in South Wales to Stafford in Staffordshire....

, A465

A465 road

The A465 is a major road in south Wales. It is more commonly known as the Heads of the Valleys Road because it joins together the north ends of the South Wales Valleys...

, A48

A48 road

The A48 is a major trunk road in Great Britain. It runs from the A40 at Highnam west of Gloucester to the A40 at Carmarthen. Before the construction of the M4 motorway and the first Severn Bridge in the mid 1960s it was the principal route into South Wales. For most of its journey through Wales,...

, A40

A40 road

The A40 is a major trunk road connecting London to Fishguard, Wales and officially called The London to Fishguard Trunk Road in all legal documents and Acts...

, and A477

A477 road

The A477 road is a major route in the Welsh counties of Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, connecting St Clears and Johnston. It includes a toll bridge, the Cleddau Bridge between Pembroke Dock and Neyland....

in the south, the A55

A55 road

The A55, also known as the North Wales Expressway, is a major road in Britain. Its entire length is a dual carriageway primary route, with the exception of the point where it crosses the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait. All junctions are grade separated except for two roundabouts — one...

and A483

A483 road

The A483 is a major road in the United Kingdom, running from Swansea in Wales to Chester in England, although the official title is the Swansea to Manchester Trunk Road.-Swansea:...

plus border links in the north, form part of the Trans-European Road Network

Trans-European road network

The Trans-European road network was defined by Council Decision 93/629/EEC of October 29, 1993, and is a project to improve the internal road infrastructure of the European Union...

.

Most major English cities have direct rail connections to Wales via Cardiff Central, Chester and Wolverhampton (the latter two being in England). The South Wales Coast to Swansea is served by the South Wales Main Line

South Wales Main Line

The South Wales Main Line , originally known as the London, Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway or simply as the Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway, is a branch of the Great Western Main Line in Great Britain...

which passes under the Severn Estuary through the Severn Tunnel

Severn Tunnel

The Severn Tunnel is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn....

; the West Wales Line

West Wales Line

The West Wales Lines are a group of railway lines from Swansea through Carmarthenshire to Pembrokeshire, West Wales...

connects it to the Pembrokeshire ferry ports. The main North-South railway line is the Welsh Marches Line

Welsh Marches Line

The Welsh Marches Line , known historically as the North and West Route, is the railway line running from Newport in south-east Wales to Shrewsbury in the West Midlands region of England by way of Abergavenny, Hereford and Craven Arms, and thence to Crewe via Whitchurch...

between Newport and Shrewsbury enabling direct services between Holyhead and Cardiff. An urban rail network

Valley Lines

Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes is the busy network of passenger suburban railway services radiating from Cardiff, Wales. It includes lines within the city itself, the Vale of Glamorgan and the South Wales Valleys....

, serving 81 stations, is focused on the capital, Cardiff. Mid and North Wales (other than the coast) are served by a limited number of branch lines some of which connect with revived narrow gauge railways

Great Little Trains of Wales

The Great Little Trains of Wales is a joint marketing scheme formed in 1970 to promote some of the narrow gauge railways of Wales and encourage visitors to Wales. As well as marketing the railways, the scheme allows visitors to purchase a discount card, allowing reduced rates on all the lines.As of...

.

Wales has ten main commercial ports. Milford Haven

Milford Haven

Milford Haven is a town and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, a natural harbour used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was founded in 1790 on the north side of the Waterway, from which it takes its name...

is the fourth largest port in the UK in terms of tonnage and the busiest for oil products. Newport

Newport Docks

Newport Docks is the collective name for a series of docks in the city of Newport, South Wales.-Background:Newport was a small fishing port and market town until the coming of the industrial age at the beginning of the 19th century...

is the busiest UK port for iron and steel and Port Talbot

Port Talbot Docks

The port of Port Talbot is located on the River Afan estuary next to Port Talbot Steelworks in the industrial town of Port Talbot, South Wales. The whole basin complex covers about , consisting of: an inner set of floating docks, developed from 1834 onwards; and an outer tidal basin, completed in...

is the third busiest for ores.

Cardiff International Airport

Cardiff International Airport

Cardiff Airport is an international airport serving Cardiff, and the rest of South, Mid and West Wales. Around 1.4 million passengers passed through the airport in 2010....

is the only Welsh airport offering international scheduled flights. In 2007, Anglesey Airport

Anglesey Airport

-Passenger statistics:-External links:***...

became a public airport, offering scheduled flights twice a day to Cardiff only.

Telecommunications

On 28 November 2006, a trial of a new telecommunications network technology

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

was rolled out in the village of Wick

Wick, Vale of Glamorgan

Wick is a small village in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, situated about 1.5 miles from the coast. The closest towns are Llantwit Major, Cowbridge and Bridgend.- Amenities :...

in the Vale of Glamorgan

Vale of Glamorgan

The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in the southern part of Glamorgan, South Wales...

. The new network BT 21CN, will offer data transfer speeds of up to 24Mbit/s, offering Welsh broadband

Broadband

The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...

customers a wider range of services, including high-speed video telephony, video on demand

Video on demand

Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...

, WiFi

WIFI

WIFI is a radio station broadcasting a brokered format. Licensed to Florence, New Jersey, USA, the station is currently operated by Florence Broadcasting Partners, LLC.This station was previously owned by Real Life Broadcasting...

access and corporate VPN access.

Utilities

The average annual production of electricity in Wales is some 3,800 MW. Average annual electricity consumption is just over half of the annual production making Wales a net exporter of electricity. Electricity generation encompasses a broad mix of technologies including Nuclear (e.g. Wylfa

Wylfa

The Wylfa Nuclear Power Station is situated just west of Cemaes Bay on the island of Anglesey, North Wales. Its location on the coast provides an excellent cooling source for its operation...

), Coal (e.g. Aberthaw

Aberthaw Power Station

Aberthaw Power Station refers to a series of two coal-fired power stations situated on the coast of South Wales, near Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan. It is actually located on the waterfront of the nearby villages of Gileston and West Aberthaw on Limpert Bay...

), Gas (e.g. Baglan Bay

Baglan Bay power station

Baglan Bay power station is a 525MWe gas-fired power station situated on Baglan Moors just west of Port Talbot in Wales.-History:The power was built on the site of the former Isopropanol BP chemicals in September 2003, costing £300m. At the time of its development, it was considered the most...

), Wind (Cefn Croes

Cefn Croes

Cefn Croes is a wind farm in Ceredigion, Wales. It is located in the Cambrian Mountains, just south of the A44 road between Aberystwyth and Llangurig, in west Wales. The construction of the wind farm commenced in February 2004, and was completed in the spring of 2005 when the 39 wind turbines...

) and hydro-electricity (Dinorwig

Dinorwig power station

The Dinorwig Power Station is a pumped-storage hydroelectric scheme, near Dinorwig, Llanberis in Snowdonia national park in Gwynedd, north Wales...

Taxation and public spending

Fiscal and economic policy

Economy of the United Kingdom

The economy of the United Kingdom is the sixth-largest national economy in the world measured by nominal GDP and seventh-largest measured by purchasing power parity , and the third-largest in Europe measured by nominal GDP and second-largest measured by PPP...

are reserved matters

Reserved matters

In the United Kingdom reserved matters and excepted matters are the areas of government policy where Parliament had kept the power to make laws in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales....

determined at Westminster

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

. The think-tank Oxford Economics estimated that in 2006-07, tax revenues of £19.3bn were raised in Wales, compared to Government expenditure of £28.2bn - a fiscal gap of £9.1bn. In 2001-02, public expenditure per head in Wales was higher than most of the English regions, but lower than in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Economic development

According to the Welsh Assembly Government's economic development strategy, the role of the public sector

Public sector

The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...

in the economy is to help create a stable and favourable business environment, promote skills and innovation (through for example apprenticeships and Design Wales

Design Wales

Design Wales is an organisation based at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, which over the years has raised the profile and increased the use of design within the Wales’ economy. This to a great extent has been achieved by providing one to one design advise directly to Welsh companies and...

), address market failures and invest in economic infrastructure

Infrastructure

Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...

including transport and information technology

Information technology

Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...

. Aside from fiscal policy, energy

Energy

In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...

policy, employment law, social security

Social security

and various other aspects of market regulation are reserved to the UK Government.

Public sector employment

The public sector is also an important employer in Wales. In the year ending 30 June 2008, 386,000 people (28.8% of the Welsh workforce) were employed in the public sector, with the highest number (49,000) in Cardiff

Cardiff

and the highest percentage of the local workforce (35.4%) in Swansea

Swansea

Controversies in economic policy

The decline in Welsh GDP per person (relative to the UK average) over recent years has prompted policy debate. There have been suggestions – for example, by Plaid Cymru

Plaid Cymru

' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...

– that Wales should attempt to emulate the Irish 'Celtic Tiger

Celtic Tiger

Celtic Tiger is a term used to describe the economy of Ireland during a period of rapid economic growth between 1995 and 2007. The expansion underwent a dramatic reversal from 2008, with GDP contracting by 14% and unemployment levels rising to 14% by 2010...

' model, particularly its low corporation tax rates, to stimulate investment and growth

Economic growth

In economics, economic growth is defined as the increasing capacity of the economy to satisfy the wants of goods and services of the members of society. Economic growth is enabled by increases in productivity, which lowers the inputs for a given amount of output. Lowered costs increase demand...

. However, economists such as Nicholas Crafts

Nicholas Crafts

Nicholas F. R. Crafts is Professor of Economics and Economic History at the University of Warwick, a post he has held since 2005. Previously he was a Professor of Economic History at London School of Economics and Political Science between 1995-2005...

and John Bradley have argued that the low Irish corporation tax rate was only effective in the very specific demographic

Demography

Demography is the statistical study of human population. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic human population, that is, one that changes over time or space...

and historical circumstances of Ireland in the late 1980s and 1990s, and that adopting such a policy in a very different economic context would not only require political independence

Welsh independence

Welsh independence is a political ideal advocated by some people in Wales that would see Wales secede from the United Kingdom and become an independent sovereign state. This ideology is promoted mainly by the Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru.-History:...

, but could be relatively ineffective and/or create difficult policy choices between higher personal taxes

Income tax

An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...

and lower public spending.

In a report for the Institute of Welsh Affairs

Institute of Welsh Affairs

The Institute of Welsh Affairs is an independent, membership-based think-tank based in the capital of Wales, Cardiff, owing no allegiance to any political or economic interest group...

in 2003, Phil Cooke of Cardiff University

Cardiff University

Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...

argued that the Welsh Government had responded to the loss of productivity

Productivity

in manufacturing by substituting new jobs in the public sector, making Wales increasingly dependent on fiscal transfers

Fiscal imbalance

- Meaning and Types :Fiscal imbalance is the term used to denote a mismatch in the revenue powers and expenditure responsibilities of a government. In the literature on fiscal federalism, two types of fiscal imbalances are measured: Vertical Fiscal Imbalance and Horizontal Fiscal Imbalance...

from Whitehall. Cooke alleged that a relatively 'weak' devolution

Devolution

Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. Devolution can be mainly financial, e.g. giving areas a budget which was formerly administered by central government...

settlement had prevented the Welsh Government from developing innovative economic policies, especially when compared to Scotland

Scottish Executive

The Scottish Government is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive, from the extant Scottish Office, and the term Scottish Executive remains its legal name under the Scotland Act 1998...

. However, critics including former Welsh Secretary

Secretary of State for Wales

The Secretary of State for Wales is the head of the Wales Office within the British cabinet. He or she is responsible for ensuring Welsh interests are taken into account by the government, representing the government within Wales and overseeing the passing of legislation which is only for Wales...

Ron Davies and John Lovering, another Cardiff academic, claimed that Cooke's argument that a more powerful Assembly was the necessary precondition

Necessary and sufficient conditions

In logic, the words necessity and sufficiency refer to the implicational relationships between statements. The assertion that one statement is a necessary and sufficient condition of another means that the former statement is true if and only if the latter is true.-Definitions:A necessary condition...

to more effective economic policies was a non-sequitur

Non sequitur (logic)

Non sequitur , in formal logic, is an argument in which its conclusion does not follow from its premises. In a non sequitur, the conclusion could be either true or false, but the argument is fallacious because there is a disconnection between the premise and the conclusion. All formal fallacies...

Economic history

Until the middle of the 18th century economic development in Wales was restricted by its peripheral location, predominantly upland topography, poor communications and sparse population. Commerce was most advanced in the small coastal ports that had regular exchange with Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

or Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

; the other major sources of external trading contact were the drovers

Drover (Britain)

A drovers' road, drove or droveway is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to market or between summer and winter pasture...

, who drove cattle from Mid Wales

Mid Wales

Mid Wales is the name given to the central region of Wales. The Mid Wales Regional Committee of the National Assembly for Wales covered the counties of Ceredigion and Powys and the area of Gwynedd that had previously been the district of Meirionydd. A similar definition is used by the BBC...

along Drovers roads for sale and slaughter in the English Midlands

English Midlands

The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...

and London's Smithfield Market from the 14th century onwards. The drovers were instrumental in establishing the first banks in Wales, such as "Banc Y Ddafad Ddu" in Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....

.

Industrial development from the mid 18th century was stimulated by the potential of Wales' rich mineral deposits, the arrival of English entrepreneur

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

s and financiers and changes in technology. The development of iron smelting

Smelting

Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...

by coke

Coke (fuel)

Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...

made the South Wales Valleys

South Wales Valleys

a natural industrial location during the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

and, from the mid 18th century, increased demand for metals and coal was generated first by war and later by the advent of steamships and railways.

The northern rim of the South Wales Coalfield

South Wales Coalfield

The South Wales Coalfield is a large region of south Wales that is rich with coal deposits, especially the South Wales Valleys.-The coalfield area:...

, focused on Merthyr, became Britain's foremost iron-producing district in the second half of the century, while the south-western part of the coalfield, around Swansea

Swansea

, emerged as an important centre of non-ferrous metal

Non-ferrous metal

In metallurgy, a non-ferrous metal is a metal that is not ferrous, that is, any metal, including alloys, that does not contain iron in appreciable amounts...

smelting and tinplate production. Metallurgical industries required ever increasing quantities of coal, which was initially largely mined for this purpose. However, sale-coal mining developed in earnest from the mid 19th century and this was to become the signature industry of the region

Mining in Wales

Mining in Wales provided a significant source of income to the economy of Wales throughout the nineteenth century and early twentieth century....

, transforming the economic and social landscape of the South Wales Valleys.

Although a much smaller industry than coal, the slate industry in Wales

Slate industry in Wales

The slate industry in Wales began during the Roman period when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the late 19th century, at which time the most important slate producing areas were in...

became the world's largest supplier in the 19th century and had an enduring impact on the landscape of North Wales

North Wales

North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...

. At its height in the 1890s, there were dozens of quarries

Quarry

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...

employing around 15,000 men, although they suffered from the boom and bust

Boom and bust

A credit boom-bust cycle is an episode characterized by a sustained increase in several economics indicators followed by a sharp and rapid contraction. Commonly the boom is driven by a rapid expansion of credit to the private sector accompanied with rising prices of commodities and stock market index...

nature of the construction industry. As most of the workforce were drawn from rural, Welsh-speaking communities, slate quarrying was described by one historian as "the most Welsh of Welsh industries".

Despite explosive growth in the early 1900s, by the 1920s it was apparent that Wales was facing economic difficulties, largely because of its reliance on older heavy industry

Heavy industry

rather the newer, growing light industry

Light industry

Light industry is usually less capital intensive than heavy industry, and is more consumer-oriented than business-oriented...

sectors that were becoming established in the more prosperous parts of England. Even during a boom period at the start of the 20th century, Wales had a narrow economic base dependent on the labour intensive exploitation of natural resources. The Welsh export

Export

The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country. The seller of such goods and services is referred to as an "exporter" who is based in the country of export whereas the overseas based buyer is referred to as an "importer"...

economy collapsed during the inter-war recession, victim of increasing protectionism

Protectionism

Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...

and the rise of new competitors overseas. As the global terms of trade

Terms of trade

In international economics and international trade, terms of trade or TOT is /. In layman's terms it means what quantity of imports can be purchased through the sale of a fixed quantity of exports...

changed, unemployment in the South Wales Valleys soared to unprecedented levels during the early 1930s

Great Depression in the United Kingdom

The Great Depression in the United Kingdom, also known as the Great Slump, was a period of national economic downturn in the 1930s, which had its origins in the global Great Depression...

(up to 59% in Merthyr and 76% in Pontypridd

Pontypridd

Pontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...

), despite the exodus of 400,000 people from the region between 1921 and 1939.

In the post-war era, the steel and tinplate industries consolidated on a smaller number of larger sites, such as the new works at Port Talbot and Llanwern

Llanwern

. The National Coal Board

National Coal Board

The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...

, created in 1947, tried to modernise the Welsh coal industry but the number of pits in South Wales shrank from 115 in 1953, producing almost 21 million tons, to 34 in 1981, producing 7.7 million tons. Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....

and Swansea Bay

Swansea Bay

Swansea Bay is a bay on the Bristol Channel on the South Wales coast. Places on the bay include Mumbles, Swansea and Port Talbot. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan and Blackpill stream flow into the bay....

became centres of the petrochemical

Petrochemical

Petrochemicals are chemical products derived from petroleum. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sources such as corn or sugar cane....

industry and new light industry was attracted to locations throughout Wales. Wales attracted an above average share of the foreign direct investment

Foreign direct investment

Foreign direct investment or foreign investment refers to the net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor.. It is the sum of equity capital,other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown in...

(FDI) into the UK from the 1970s onwards but many of the new plants established by foreign firms were essentially 'branch factory' operations offering low-wage, low-skill employment opportunities. In 1971 Sir Julian Hodge

Julian Hodge

Sir Julian Hodge was a London-born entrepreneur and banker who lived in Wales for most of his life, from the age of five. He formed the Bank of Wales , and later the Julian Hodge Bank in Cardiff.- Background and beginnings :As the son of a plumber, he came from humble beginnings...

founded the Commercial Bank of Wales (later renamed Bank of Wales

Bank of Wales

The Bank of Wales was a bank based in Cardiff, Wales, founded by Sir Julian Hodge in 1971. The company provided commercial banking services to small and medium-sized businesses in Wales....

) but the company was later taken over by HBOS

HBOS

HBOS plc is a banking and insurance company in the United Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group having been taken over in January 2009...

and the brand dropped in 2002.

One of the main trends in the post-war decades was the shift towards service sector employment, which accounted for 60% of jobs by the 1980s, many of them held by women. The concentration of official agencies in Cardiff increased the scope for bureaucratic employment in the public sector, while Government regional policy

Regional policy

-Regional policy in the European Union:Although the European Union is one of the richest parts of the world, there are large internal disparities of income and opportunity between its regions. The May 2004 Enlargement, followed by accession of Bulgaria and Romania in January 2007 has widened these...

brought various national bodies to Wales: the Royal Mint

Royal Mint

moved to Llantrisant

Llantrisant

, Companies House

Companies House

Companies House is the United Kingdom Registrar of Companies and is an Executive Agency of the United Kingdom Government Department for Business, Innovation and Skills . All forms of companies are incorporated and registered with Companies House and file specific details as required by the...

to Cardiff and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre to Swansea. From the 1970s on, the steel industry contracted, with works at Ebbw Vale

Ebbw Vale

Ebbw Vale is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River, south Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough...

, Shotton

Shotton, Flintshire

Shotton is a town in Flintshire, north Wales, lying on the River Dee. The name derives from the Old Norse words sjò and tùn . It is continuous with the towns of Connah's Quay and Queensferry in what is called Deeside...

and East Moors in Cardiff closing and layoffs elsewhere. The early 1980s recession

Early 1980s recession

The early 1980s recession describes the severe global economic recession affecting much of the developed world in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The United States and Japan exited recession relatively early, but high unemployment would continue to affect other OECD nations through at least 1985...

had a bigger impact in Wales than in other parts of the UK: between 1979 and 1982, Wales lost 130,000 jobs and the employment rate fell to 62%. Recovery started later in Wales, and structural changes left a legacy of high unemployment amongst older men, especially in the Valleys.

Today, Wales remains a lagging region within the wider United Kingdom economy. Over the long term, output and productivity growth in Wales has been broadly in line with the UK and the developed world as a whole, although there are some unexplained gaps in particular service industries. What has marked Wales out is a low activity rate compared to other parts of the UK.

Tertiary

Secondary

Primary

Gross Value Added

Employment, unemployment and economic activity

Regional variations

Property

Transport

Telecommunications

Utilities

Taxation and public spending

Economic development

Public sector employment

Controversies in economic policy

Economic history

See also