ONS unveil compendium of comparable statistics across the UK

The ONS have put together the compendium so the different constituent nations could be compared ahead of the Scottish referendum in October. Photograph: David Cheskin/PA — The ONS have put together the compendium so the different constituent nations could be compared ahead of the Scottish independence referendum. Photograph: David Cheskin/PA Photograph: David Cheskin/PA

A compendium of UK statistics has been published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which allows for direct comparisons across different parts of the UK on a selection of subjects including economy and population.

It is hoped that the compendium, produced by the ONS using pre-published statistics, will inform public policy debate and clarify which figures can be compared across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Ahead of the Scottish independence referendum, comparable statistics across different regions of the UK, will undoubtedly be much sought after. ONS director of analysis and dissemination, Guy Goodwin explains:

An important part of ONS’s work is to provide trusted statistics to help inform decisions on policy and to inform public debate. Ahead of the referendum, the Compendium will be a valuable resource to both decision-makers and voters seeking authoritative, independent data on variations between different parts of the UK

Presentation of the statistics are broken down into four themes: population and migration, economy, social indicators and environment. We've picked out some extracts from the hefty release which you can see below.

Economy

Economic activity which cannot be assigned to any specific region, such as North Sea oil and gas extraction, is excluded from the gross value added (GVA) figures presented.

The bar chart above shows the nominal GVA produced in each country. GVA is defined as:

The value generated by any unit engaged in a productive activity. It is measured at current basic prices, excluding taxes (less subsidies) on products. GVA plus taxes (less subsidies) on products is equivalent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

As you would expect, England which has the largest population and largest economy of the four nations, had the highest nominal GVA in 2012.

Extra-regio refers to economic activity which cannot be assigned to any specific region - mining and quarrying accounts for 90% (of which most is North Sea oil) while the remaining 10% is made up of the activities of UK embassies and armed forces abroad.

The chart below shows the GVA value for each country divided by its population to produce a GVA per head figure. GVA per head was highest for England at £21,937 followed by Scotland at £20,013.

Data on nominal GVA growth shows that the business services and finance sector have been driving growth in England and Scotland.

The chart below shows labour productivity whhich provides a measure of economic performance. According to the ONS it is calculated as "the level of output (GVA) per labour input (hour worked)".

In 2012, England’s GVA per hour worked was slightly higher than the UK average (at 101.5, against an index where the UK equals 100). As the chart below shows, this was due to the influence of London and the south-east which were both also above the UK average (131.2 and 107.7 respectively).

Scotland's GVA per hour worked came in just just below the UK average (at 97.4) but had higher productivity than any of the other English regions outside of London and the south-east. Northern Ireland (82.8) recorded the lowest GVA per hour worked.

Scotland had the highest proportion of usual residents aged 16 to 64 with an NVQ Level 4 or equivalent and above qualification in 2013

As the chart above shows Scotland had the highest proportion of usual residents aged 16 to 64 with an NVQ Level 4 or equivalent and above qualification (Higher National Certificate, Higher National Diploma or degree level) in 2013 at 39.4% (1.3m).

Th proportion was 35% (11.8m) in England - the same as for the UK as whole. Northern Ireland reported the lowest proportion at 28.1% (325,000).

How much would a house cost you in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales?

Using data from the House Price Index, the ONS release shows average house prices for each of the constituent countries of the UK. At £261,000 England has an average house price above the UK average of £251,000.

The ONS release also looked at income data (collected through the regulated mortgage survey, showing the total declared income on which mortgages are based) against average) against average dwelling prices in each country.

They found that Northern Ireland had the most affordable house prices with a ratio of average dwelling price to average income being 3.2, followed by Scotland (3.5), Wales (3.7) while the least affordable houses were in England with buyers purchasing dwellings which were an average of 4.4 times their income.

The ratio in London was 4.8 and for the South East was 4.7.

Scotland had the lowest population density in mid-2012

As the map above shows Scotland had the lowest population density in 2012 at 68 people per square km in mid-2012, while England recorded the highest at 411 people per square km.

The ONS also provide data at local level which shows that all of the top 10 local authorities with the highest population densities in mid-2012 were in Greater London.

Islington had the highest at 14,206 people per sq km, followed by Tower Hamlets at 13,296 people per sq km and Hackney at 13,235 people per sq km.

The highest population density outside of London was in Portsmouth with a population density of 5,118 people per sq km.

In mid-2012, Glasgow was the local authority with the highest population density in Scotland (3,407 people per sq km), Belfast came top in Northern Ireland (2,564 people per sq km, ranked 71st) while Cardiff had the highest population density of any local authority in Wales(2,482 people per sq km).

Jack and Sophie - well loved in both Scotland and Northern Ireland

Harry and Amelia may well have been the most popular baby names in England in 2012, while Jacob and Amelia were the favoured first names for babies born in Wales but Scotland and Northern Ireland both favour exactly the same male and female baby names. Jack and Sophie were the most popular names for baby boys and girls whose births were registered in Scotland or Northern Ireland in 2012.

How do I access the full compendium of UK statistics?

The selection of data and charts above are an edited selection of the gargantuan compendium released by the ONS on Thursday. You can access the full compendium of UK statistics on the ONS website. There are also a selection of interactive content on subjects such as population structure, unemployment and life expectancy.

For more information on which statistics are comparable across the four nations of the UK and which are not, visit the ONS data catalogue that has all the detailed information.