South East

The South East is regarded as one of the most successful of England’s regions, regularly achieving high growth rates in GVA, high economic activity rates and low unemployment. The region is large and diverse, with a population of 8.2m, 74 local authorities and over 390,000 VAT registered businesses. It makes the largest net contribution to the Exchequer (residence-based) of £12.8 billion and is the 22nd largest economy in the world.

The South East economy is advanced, high income, broadly based and service oriented. However, it is also a region of contrasts, with gaps in performance within the region as great as those between the North and South of England. There is a wealthy core west and south of London, a rural land mass (80%) of the region with dispersed patterns of deprivation and a coastal region of major environmental assets, but with an ageing population and substantial untapped potential.

The region lags behind the best performing European and global regions on a wide set of competitiveness indicators.