GDP, UK regions and countries: April to June 2022

• In Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2022, Wales and Northern Ireland showed negative quarter-on-quarter growth in gross domestic product (GDP) of 0.4% and 0.3% respectively, while growth in England and Scotland was flat at 0.0%.

• Of the nine English regions, London, the East of England and Yorkshire and The Humber showed positive quarter-on-quarter growth in Quarter 2 2022 with growth in the North West flat at 0.0%; all other regions in England showed negative growth.

• The region with the largest positive quarter-on-quarter growth in Quarter 2 2022 was London, at 1.2%, while the largest negative growth was in the North East, at 1.6%.

• In Quarter 2 2022, compared with the same quarter a year ago, Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales showed positive growth in GDP of 5.0%, 4.0%, 2.1% and 1.9%, respectively.

• Of the nine English regions, London showed the largest increase in growth in GDP in Quarter 2 2022 when compared with the same quarter a year earlier, at 9.5%; this was followed by the North West with growth of 3.6%.

• Estimates in this release have taken on revisions back to Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2021. These revisions are mainly because of taking on revised estimates from the UK GDP quarterly national accounts.

Our GDP quarterly national accounts, UK: July to September 2022 bulletin estimated UK GDP quarter-on-quarter growth at 0.1% in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2022. This followed higher growth of 0.6% in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2022.

Wales and Northern Ireland are estimated to have had negative quarter-on-quarter growth in Quarter 2 2022 of 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively. Growth in England and Scotland was flat at 0.0%.

Estimates reported in this release for Scotland and Northern Ireland are published by the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). More information about our compilation methods can be found in Section 6 of our latest Gross domestic product (GDP), UK regions and countries Quality and Methodology Information (QMI).

Of the nine English regions, only London, the East of England and Yorkshire and The Humber are estimated to have shown positive growth in Quarter 2 2022, with growth flat in the North West. London had the largest percentage growth at 1.2%. The North East, South West, East Midlands, South East and West Midlands all showed negative growth, with the largest negative growth at 1.6% in the North East.

In Quarter 2 2022, when compared with the same quarter a year ago, England is estimated to have shown the same growth in GDP as the UK of 4.0%. Scotland was the only country to show growth above the UK with a 5.0% increase. London was the only region of England showing growth above the UK, at 9.5%.

All regions and countries of the UK are estimated to have had smaller growth in Quarter 2 2022 than in Quarter 1 2022 when comparing with the same quarter a year earlier.

The interactive charts in this section allow readers to explore gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate estimates by industry and sector, within individual regions. Data for Scotland and Northern Ireland are not shown here as they are published by the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

Figure 4: Interactive maps by main industrial sector for the English regions and Wales

Interactive maps by main industrial sector for the English regions and Wales, showing seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter GDP growth for Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2022

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Figure 5: Interactive chart by area for the English regions and Wales

Interactive chart by area for the English regions and Wales, showing seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter GDP growth for Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2022

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Figure 6: Time series charts by main sectors for the English regions and Wales

Interactive time series charts by main sectors for the English regions and Wales, showing seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter GDP growth, Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2020 to Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2022

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GDP

Gross domestic product (GDP) measures the value of goods and services produced in the UK. It estimates both the size and the growth of the economy.

Production

Production is the process of combining various materials or other inputs in order to generate a product for consumption. It includes output in the manufacturing (the largest component of production), mining and quarrying, energy supply, and water supply and waste management industries.

Services

Services are activities that people or businesses provide for a consumer or other businesses. The main components of the service industries are: wholesale and retail; hotels and restaurants; transport, storage and communication; business services and finance; and government and other services.

The main data for these estimates are turnover data from approximately 1.9 million Value Added Tax (VAT) returns. Information from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) on workplace employment allows us to apportion the VAT turnover for each business based on their employment share within a region. Our Quality assurance of administrative data (QAAD) report for Value Added Tax turnover data methodology is available.

Other data sources are used where appropriate, or where VAT data has insufficient coverage. A full list of other data sources is included in our data source catalogue.

We recently improved our methods, and details on these changes can be found in our Quality and Methodology Information (QMI).

As part of our ongoing commitment to continuously improve the accuracy and reliability of our statistics, our latest estimates have been constrained to quarterly national GDP, taking on revisions back to Quarter 1 2021. Future releases will incorporate revisions accordingly. Please refer to Section 4 on regular revisions in our recent GDP, English regions and Wales revisions: February 2023 article.

The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) published their interim findings of their assessment of these regional GDP statistics on 30 January 2023.

While our statistics are still in development, estimates for Scotland are taken from the most recent release of GDP in Scotland, published by the Scottish Government, and estimates for Northern Ireland are taken from the most recent release of the Northern Ireland Composite Economic Index (NICEI), published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

Data presented in this release are for Quarter 1 (Jan to March) 2012 onwards.

We welcome feedback and comments on this publication, including on presentation and further development of other data sources at regionalgdp@ons.gov.uk.

These data are designated as experimental statistics. These are statistics that are in the testing phase. We will continue to develop these statistics and seek users' views on their uses and needs for these data.

While the data sources and methods used in both our regional and national estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) are broadly similar, there are some clear differences. For example, in the extent to which Value Added Tax (VAT) data is used in the compilation of these estimates.

We monitor seasonal trends and use these to adjust the data. With significant shocks to the economy such as those seen during the coronavirus pandemic, seasonal trends may be affected, although it is too soon to know if this is the case. With updates to data sources, and real-world impacts on the data, we will continue to review and monitor the outputs as more information becomes available.

These estimates aim to produce the best estimates at a subnational level. However, the sum of the UK regions may not equal the national total and there may be some discrepancies at industry level, reflecting that there are some differences in data sources and methods. We have constrained our regional GDP estimates in such a way that minimises the changes to the region by industry quarterly growth rates. We will continue to examine the impact of this method, ensuring the methodologies we continue to use are fit for purpose. We will also address the recommendations highlighted in the interim findings from the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) assessment in advance of restarting the OSR assessment into becoming National Statistics.