Cornwall has the lowest economic performance of any nation in UK

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has just released its latest GVA (gross value added) figures, which record economic performance across the UK.

GVA is traditionally known the “measure of the growth of national income” but, this year, the ONS has revised its methodology and now produces what it terms GVA (balanced).

The latest figures are for the year 2016 and show that Cornwall has the lowest economic performance of any nation in the United Kingdom.

In 2016, England had a GVA per head of £27,108, which was 102.9% of the UK average, followed by Scotland with a GVA of £24,800 (94.2%). Doing less well were Northern Ireland and Wales, with GVA figures of £19,997 (75.9%) and £19,140 (72.7%) respectively.

By comparison, the figure for Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly) was only £17,069, which was 64.8% of the UK average.

Compared to previous years, ONS’s new approach to the statistics seems to show the gap between Cornwall and the other nations of the UK to be wider.

The statistics also show that the United Kingdom has massive economic inequalities between the regions and nations of the UK, which the Westminster Government has failed to address.

Surely, it is time for an Economic Fairness Act to ensure a more proportionate approach to regional investment from the UK Government.