Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly Key Economic Facts

● Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have the longest coastline of any county in England (697 km).

● Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have a unique distinct culture and a high quality environment.
● Cornwall’s infrastructure is seen by many as being the main constraint on future economic development.
● The population of Cornwall stood at 519,400 in 2005. This represents approximately 10% of the total South West population.
● In 2003, the Gross Domestic Product is 75.8% of UK average (of EU 25).
● Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly’s unemployment claimant count rate has reduced from 3.7% in August 1999 to 1.8% in August 2006.

● 39,600 people of working age are claiming key benefits in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly. 13.2% of the working-age population in Cornwall are workless and approximately £800,000 per day is paid in benefits to support the workless population in Cornwall and IOS.

● The median weekly earnings recorded in Cornwall have risen by 14.8% (£44) between 2001 and 2005. This growth is marginally faster than that recorded at the South West (13.8%) and in line with the national level (14.7%).

● Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly had 18,745 VAT registered businesses at the beginning of 2006. Between 1999 and 2006 there has been an overall increase in business stock of 955 (+5.4%). This growth rate is less than those recorded at both the South West (+8.3%) and UK (+8.8%) levels.

● The percentage stock of VAT registered businesses in the hotels and catering sector in Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly (11.4%) is higher than those found at the South West (8%) and UK (7.1%) levels. In contrast, the stock of businesses in the higher paid sectors, such as manufacturing and high growth/high paid sectors such as finance (0.2%) is lower than the South West and UK averages.

● 84.4% of business in Cornwall employ up to 10 people. This is slightly higher than the regional and national averages. At the other end of the scale, there is a lower percentage of medium (50-199 employees) and large workplaces (200+ employees) in Cornwall in comparison to the South West and national levels.

Key Economic Facts

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Average Earnings
Deprivation
Gross Domestic Product
Population
Business Statistics
Economic Activity
Learning and Skills
Un(der)employment

Average Earnings

Gross Weekly Earnings for all Full-Time Employees (Median, Workplace based) 

Source: ASHE © Crown Copyright/LINC

Earnings by Workplace, All Full-Time Workers

Full-Time Gross Weekly Income (£s), by Percentile, 2005

Source: ASHE © Crown Copyright

Full-Time Gross Weekly Income, by Percentile, as a Proportion of the UK figure, 2005

	10th Percentile	Median	90th Percentile
South West	97.8%	93.0%	90.5%
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly	89.7%	79.1%	74.4%

Source: ASHE © Crown Copyright

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

GDP/Capita in Selected Areas EU =100

GVA Growth 1995-2003

Population

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Population Structure, 1991 and 2001

Source: Census 2001

Business Statistics

Cornwall has a high number of small businesses, and as can be seen in the table below, 17,357 (84.4%) of business units in Cornwall employ between 1 and 10 employees. At the opposite end of the scale there are a low proportion of businesses which employ between 25-199 people.  

	1-10 employees	%	11-49 employees	%	50-199 employees	%	200+ employees	%
Great Britain	1,862,882	83.3	287,487	12.9	69,399	3.1	15,580	0.7
South West	171,476	83.9	26,105	12.8	5,693	2.8	1,178	0.6
Cornwall	17,357	84.4	2,688	12.1	439	2.1	80	0.4

Stock of VAT registered business - Cornwall & Isles of Scilly (1999-2004)

Source: VAT Registrations and stocks/VAT registrations and de-registrations by industry 1995 to 2004 (ONS©NOMIS) - Social-Economic Stats for Cornwall, Research and Information, Cornwall County Council.

Economic Activity

Overall economic activity rates for working age people in Cornwall were 78.1% in 2005, in line with the natinoal figure of 78.2% and only marginally below the reginal rigure of 80.6%.  The economic activity rates of male and females also follow a similar pattern to that seen overall.

Source: Annual Population Survey, January 2005 - December 2005

Key Benefits Data by District - February 2005

	All	Unemployed	Sick and Dis	Lone Parent	Others
Cornwall	39,600 (13.2%)	6,400 (2.1%)	27,300 (9.1%)	3,900 (1.3%)	2,700 (0.7%)
Caradon	5.0 (10.5%)	0.6 (1.3%)	3.5 (7.3%)	0.6 (1.3%)	0.3 (0.5%)
Carrick	6.4 (12.2%)	1.2 (2.2%)	4.4 (8.5%)	0.5 (1%)	0.2 (0.5%)
Kerrier	8.1 (14.4%)	1.1 (2%)	6.0 (10.7%)	0.6 (1.1%)	0.4 (0.7%)
N. Cornwall	6.0 (12.6%)	1.0 (2.1%)	4.1 (8.5%)	0.6 (1.3%)	0.3 (0.6%)
Penwith	6.2 (16.8%)	1.0 (2.6%)	4.1 (11.1%)	0.8 (2.1%)	0.4 (1%)
Restormel	7.8 (13.4%)	1.6 (2.7%)	5.1 (8.7%)	0.7 (1.2%)	0.5 (0.8%)

Learning and Skills

Highest Level of Qualification of Economically Active Adults, 2003/04

Source: Local Labour Force Survey 2004/05 – Learning Skills Council

Qualifacations by Sector in Devon and Cornwall

Un(der)employment

There were a total of 4,012 Job Seekers' Allowance claimants in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in December 2005, representing 2.5% of the total working age population.  This compares favourably with the levels recorded across the UK but is higher than in the South West as a whole.  The claimant count has been falling for many years, although rates in Cornwall are mroe affected by seasonal change, due to the heavy reliance upon tourism related activities during the summer months.  On the ILO measure, now recognised as a more accurate measure of unemployment, some 3.7% of the economically active population were unemployed during  June 2004 - May 2005.  Again, this is below the national rate (4.7%) but higher than in the region as a whole (3.4%). 

Source: Claimant Count, NOMIS 2005