§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average income and wealth are of(a) an urban dweller and (b) a rural dweller. [134497]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 30 October 2000:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question on average income and wealth in urban and rural dwellers.266WInformation on income is available from the 1998–99 Family Expenditure Survey which categorises local authority districts by population density. Estimated average income was £458 a week in metropolitan districts and high and medium density non-metropolitan districts, and £454 a week in low density districts. Low density is defined as under 2.2 persons per hectare. About a quarter of households in the UK are in such districts, which include some small towns and their surrounding areas.Like all estimates from sample surveys, these are subject to sampling variability. The difference between them is well within the range to be expected from chance variation.Information is not available on wealth.