Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what the average income per head in the latest financial year for which figures are available was in each of Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the regions of England.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Noble Lord’s Parliamentary Question of 10th May is attached in the answer.

The Rt Hon. the Lord Wigley

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

17 May 2023

Dear Lord Wigley,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what the average income per head in the latest financial year for which figures are available was in each of Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the regions of England (HL7765).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not produce average income per head estimates of this nature. However, the Effects of Taxes and Benefits on UK Household Income is routinely produced at household-level, in line with international recommendations [1]. This is done so under the assumption that household income is the optimum measure of economic well-being and living standards on individuals given the likelihood that household members share resources.

Table 1 provides UK household disposable income at the International Territorial Level 1 (ITL1) for financial year ending 2021. A more detailed breakdown of income components is available at the ITL1 region is available as part of the ONS’ annual release of Effect of Taxes and Benefits on UK Household Income [2]. Published data currently covers up to financial year ending 2021, with financial year ending 2022 provisionally scheduled for June 2023.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

[1] https://unece.org/statistics/publications/canberra-group-handbook-household-income-statistics-2ndedition

[2] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwea lth/bulletins/theeffectsoftaxesandbenefitsonhouseholdincome/financialyearending2021/relateddata

Table 1: Average household disposable income by Region, financial year ending 2021, UK

Source: Office for National Statistics, Effects of Taxes and Benefits