§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list those of the 10 areas with the lowest gross domestic product per head of population which are rural areas. [109891]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Colin Breed, dated 14 February 2000:
The Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on which of the 10 areas with the lowest gross domestic product (GDP) per head of population are rural.The ONS does not publish estimates of GDP per head specifically for rural areas. The most detailed estimates of GDP per head that ONS publishes are for UK NUTS-31 areas. These are based on local government administrative areas, which may cover both urban and rural communities.ONS last published estimates of GDP per head at the NUTS-3 level in October 1998, including estimates for 1996. The NUTS-3 areas with lowest GDP per head for 1996, presented in the form of an index where UK=100, are given in the attached table.1 All UK NUTS (Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics) areas were defined in an ONS News Release published in June 1998 (ONS(98)199—European Classification of UK Geographic Areas)
NUTS-3 Area 1996 GDP/head (UK=100) East Lothian and Midlothian 56 Sefton 63 Wirral 63 Central Valleys 64 West and South of Northern Ireland 66 Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham 66 South Nottinghamshire 67 East and West Dunbartonshire, Helensburgh and Lomond 67 Isle of Anglesey 68 Outer London—East and North East1 69 Outer Belfast1 69 Blackpool1 69 1 Ranked joint 10th