Page 75 - Regional Employment & Skills Plan 2019

Local Authority
Swansea Carmarthenshire Ceredigion Pembrokeshire Powys
Neath Port Talbot
2014 – 2024 (% increase in projected number of households)
17% 11% 5-10% 5-10% 5-10% 1-5%
75
4.2 Economy and Infrastructure
The economy in Wales is highly influenced by external factors such as the economic, social and political changes and fluctuations experienced in the rest of the UK and the world as a whole.
Over the last fifty years the UK has been on a general downward trend in the global GDP leagues in terms of overall economy size. This is much in part, due to the fact that less mature economies e.g. E7 countries76 are closing the GDP gap with those economies that developed earlier e.g. G7 countries77. This is not of significant concern however, as the overall size of a countries’ economy is less important for wellbeing than measures such as income per head etc. and overall the UK performs fairly well in this area.
Economic growth rates have seen a reduction since the recession in 2008 due to a productivity slowdown, and Wales unfortunately has been particularly affected by this. It is well documented that Wales’ GVA continues to lag behind UK averages with this trend being exacerbated by a higher level of dependent population and the lack of economic mass.
Trends show that there has been a clear shift towards the service based economy which has been reflected by economic growth. Over the long term, manufacturing’s role has been decreasing in most developed countries and this trend is set to continue. This has been particularly hard for Wales with its historical strong roots in heavy industry.
76 China, India, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey 77 US, Japan, Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Canada
Regional Employment & Skills Plan South West & Mid Wales
Aspirational Projects and Key Developments