This page brings together some of the main indicators detailing the economy in County Durham and provides a summary of the economic factsheets on this site with additional supporting information publicly available.
The documents we publish on this page are either legally required to be made available for inspection, for information and analysis purposes or may have been supplied by the public and so in some cases may not be fully accessible. If, for any reason, you cannot access the documents and need an alternative format, please email ina@durham.gov.uk.
Linking Economic Data: Advice
Drawing links and conclusions between the datasets detailed below must be carried out with caution as they are derived using different methodologies, cover different populations, and cover different time periods.
- Business enterprises are derived from the Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR) (via NOMIS) which records the number of enterprises that were live at a reference date in March. Latest data is for 2022.
- Job numbers are derived from a sample survey of businesses extracted from the IDBR above (via NOMIS). Latest data is for 2021. As these estimates use an extract from the IDBR they can be linked.
- Employment statistics are estimates from the Annual Population Survey (APS) (via NOMIS). This survey is carried out quarterly with figures released on a rolling year average. The sample size for Great Britain is around 223,000 households and within County Durham it is 1,200 to 1,300 households. The latest period covers January 2022 to December 2022.
- Gross Value Added (GVA), are estimates of the increase in the value of the economy due to the production of goods and services. Latest data is for 2021.
- Gross Domestic household Income (GDHI) are estimates of amount of money that all of the individuals in the household sector have available for spending or saving after income distribution measures (for example, taxes, social contributions and benefits) have taken effect. Latest data is for 2021.
All of the above indicators are produce by or on behalf of the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
For example, linking changes in employment levels and GDHI cannot be made directly due to the differing methodologies and time periods they cover. Inferences can be made by comparing similar time periods, GDHI 2017 with employment rates for Jan 2017 – Dec 2017, for example and looking back over the available time-series. However, this can only be done with caveats explaining the differences in the methodologies used.
Employment
Durham Insight Page: APS Employment
Note: The rates calculated in this data release used bespoke population estimates of the 16 to 64 population group. In this latest release the population estimates appear to be higher than previous estimates and higher than the 16 to 64 population from the 2021 Census. In effect this higher estimate reduces the employment rate released. It is anticipated that these estimates will be revised in the next release of APS data.
Current figure: 74.5% (242,700 people aged 16 to 64) (January 2023 to December 2023)
Estimates of employment rates are taken from the Annual Population Survey (APS) data produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which is available down to the local authority level, (data is available for Parliamentary Constituencies).
Note: As these are estimates from a sample survey there is a possibility that some of the increases detailed in this report are due to random sampling variation, although the increases do fall within the estimated confidence intervals for these estimates.
Further information is available on the Employment Rate page.
Economic Inactivity & Unemployment
Durham Insight Page: Economic Inactivity
Note: The rates calculated in this data release used bespoke population estimates of the 16 to 64 population group. In this latest release the population estimates appear to be higher than previous estimates and higher than the 16 to 64 population from the 2021 Census. In effect this higher estimate reduces the economic inactivity rate/unemployment released. It is anticipated that these estimates will be revised in the next release of APS data.
Unemployment: Current figure: 2.2% (5,500 people aged 16 to 64) (January 2023 to December 2023)(NE: 3.9%; England: 3.8%)
The economically inactive are defined as people who are not unemployed and are not in employment. (Unemployed refers to people without a job who were available to start work in the two weeks following their interview and who had either looked for work in the four weeks prior to interview or were waiting to start a job they had already obtained.).
These individuals are not currently a part of the labour supply but are important as they may enter the labour supply in the future.
Since 2004 levels of economic inactivity have been greater in County Durham than in in England & Wales, with a downward trend over this period.
The latest data shows that over one in four people aged 16 to 64 in the county were economically inactive in the period January 2023 to December 2023 (23.8%), a fall from a 12-year peak mid-recession high of 29.5% (April 2009 to March 2010). Corresponding figures for the North East and England were 24.2%/26% and 21%/21.3% respectively.
Further information is available on the Economic Inactivity page.
Claimant Count
Durham Insight Page: Claimant Count
Key Messages:
Current Working Age (16 to 64 population): 3.2% (March 2024) (NE: 4%; England: 3.9%)
Current Young People (18 to 24 population): 4.6% (March 2024) (NE: 5.9%; England: 5.2%)
The claimant count rate in County Durham, for the 16 to 64 population, was:
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- 3.2% of the working age population were claiming out of work benefits in March 2024, the same as last month but is still below the April 2020 figure (6%).
- There were 10,475 people aged 16 to 64 claiming these benefits in County Durham in March 2024.
- This is lower than the national rate of 3.9%, and the North East rate of 4%.
- County Durham currently has the second lowest rate in the region with Middlesbrough highest at 5.9%.
The claimant count rate in County Durham, for young people (aged 18 to 24), was:
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- 4.6% of the 18 to 24 population were claiming out of work benefits in March 2024, slightly higher than last month’s 4.7%, but lower than that recorded in April 2020 (8.6%).
- There were 2,330 young people claiming these benefits in County Durham in March 2024.
- This was below the national rate of 5.2% and lower than the North East rate of 5.9%.
- County Durham currently has the second lowest rate in the region with South Tyneside the highest at 9.9% and Newcastle-upon-Tyne lowest at 2.9%.
Further information is available on the Claimant Count page.
Businesses: Overall/Sector/Industry
Durham Insight Page: Business Factsheet
Current: 14,580 businesses (2023)
ONS Business counts data reflects snapshot data showing the number active businesses. Latest ONS estimates of the number of active enterprises show there were 14,580 active enterprises in County Durham in 2023, equivalent to 279 businesses per 10,000 population, significantly lower than the England & Wales average (419 per 10,000 population) and similar to the North East average (274).
This is a net fall of 145 (1%) businesses since 2022, with a regional fall of 1% and national fall of 1.6%. Between 2010 and 2014 there was very little growth in business numbers (365), however between 2014 and 2015 there was a marked increase of 1,230.
Note: These changes should be interpreted with caution as it may not reflect any pattern of significant underlying growth because ONS changed their methodology as to what counts as a business.
Further information is available on the Businesses page.
Businesses: Survivals
Durham Insight Page: Business Factsheet
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Of the 1,130 new enterprises ‘born’ in County Durham in 2010, 57.5% (650) survived into their third year falling to 41.2% (465) for the fifth year,
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Of the 1,640 businesses ‘born’ in County Durham in 2015, 57.6% (945) survived into their third year, with the rate falling to 40.9% (670) in their fifth year,
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Of the 1,775 businesses ‘born’ in County Durham in 2020 93.8% (1,665) survived their first year.
Gross Value Added (GVA)
Durham Insight Page: GVA Factsheet
Current: £9,428 million (16.7% of the North East total) (2021)
Gross Value Added (GVA) represents the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy. ONS GVA is one of the most important indicators of regional economic performance and it is regularly used to demonstrate the economic activity of commercial and non-commercial organisations.
GVA is a measure of how much a sub-national or local economy produces over a given time period.
- County Durham has historically suffered from a lower wage economy compared to national averages,
- Productivity in the county continues to rise at a similar rate to regional and national productivity growth, while still being constrained by the relatively large number of persons of working age in the county on state benefits and low earnings (compared nationally),
- The total value of County Durham’s economy (2021) was £9.4bn and contributed 16.7% of the North East total (£56.5bn).
- The total value of the County Durham economy increase by 3.9% (from £9bn to £9.4bn) between 2020 and 2021,
- GVA per Head of Population in County Durham also increase by 5.7%, rising to £18,083, and represented 84.7% of the regional average and 58.1% of the England average,
- GVA per Hour Worked in the county was £30.64 in 2021 and was 21% lower than the national average of £38.91,
- GVA per Filled Job in the county was £46,432 in 2021, similar to 2020 and was 21.7% lower than the national average of £59,286.
Further information is available on the Gross Value Added (GVA) page.
Gross Domestic Household Income (GDHI)
Key Messages:
- Total GDHI in County Durham in 2021 was £8,982 million, representing 19.2% of the total North East GDHI and the highest proportion out of the twelve North East authorities,
- In 2021, County Durham had a GDHI of £17,228 per head, a rise of 5.3% from 2020.
- In 2021, total GDHI for England was £1,255.87 billion. GDHI per head was £22,213,
- The North East had the smallest share of England GDHI with £46,749 million representing 3.7% of total GDHI in England. This was an increase in GDHI in the North East from £45,397 million in 2020 (3% increase),
- The North East had a GDHI per head figure of £17,663, the lowest out of the nine English regions, representing a rise of 4.3% from 2020.
Further information is available on the Gross Domestic Household Income (GDHI) page.
Zero Hour Contracts
Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS) Labour Force Survey
Current Estimate: 8,000 jobs (December 2022)
Data is only available down to the regional level. The latest release is extracted from the ONS Labour Force Survey .
Key Messages:
- It is estimated that around 39,400 people (aged 16 and over) in employment were on zero-hour contracts in the North East representing 3.3% of all people in employment, (up from 23,400/2% in 2013),
- If we assume a similar percentage are on these contracts across the county and use the latest Annual Population Survey results, an estimate of 8,000 people in the county are on zero-hour contracts. However, as this estimate assumes an even distribution across NE authorities and uses a sample survey for the estimate of people in employment this figure must be used with caution.
Factsheet: Jobs Factsheet
Current: 189,400 jobs (2021)
There were an estimated 189,400 jobs in the county in 2021, 12,400 more than estimated in 2020 (a rise of 4.2%). Regionally the number of jobs increased by 4.2%% while nationally there was a rise of 2.8%.
Between 2010 and 2021 there was stronger growth in the number of jobs in the county than there had been regionally with an increase of 13.4% (22,300 additional jobs) compared to 14.3% growth nationally.
Demand for Jobs
In 2019 there were over 25,006 jobs postings in County Durham, of which 3,500 were in Health Care and Nursing professions, or 14% of all postings. This is the highest proportion out of all the groupings in the dataset, with Education & training coming second with just over 2,700 posts representing 11% of all postings. The following table details these posting by group.
| Group | Postings | % of total |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 25,006 | |
| Health Care including Nursing | 3,500 | 14.00% |
| Education and Training | 2,740 | 10.96% |
| Business Management and Operations | 1,884 | 7.53% |
| Engineering | 1,675 | 6.70% |
| Sales | 1,466 | 5.86% |
| Manufacturing and Production | 1,370 | 5.48% |
| Clerical and Administrative | 1,257 | 5.03% |
| Hospitality, Food, and Tourism | 1,281 | 5.12% |
| Information Technology | 1,232 | 4.93% |
| Community and Social Services | 1,120 | 4.48% |
| Construction, Extraction, and Architecture | 1,002 | 4.01% |
| Finance | 914 | 3.66% |
| Maintenance, Repair, and Installation | 724 | 2.90% |
| Transportation | 576 | 2.30% |
| Customer and Client Support | 573 | 2.29% |
| Law, Compliance, and Public Safety | 510 | 2.04% |
| Human Resources | 448 | 1.79% |
| Planning and Analysis | 424 | 1.70% |
| Science and Research | 368 | 1.47% |
| Marketing and Public Relations | 310 | 1.24% |
| Design, Media, and Writing | 219 | 0.88% |
| Other | 1,413 | 5.65% |
| Source: Labour Insight Jobs (Burning Glass Technologies) | ||
Quality of Jobs
Source: Annual Population Survey (via NOMIS)
As highlighted above, the County’s employment rate has increased substantially and is now close to the national average. However, this does not represent the quality of jobs in the County.
Since 2004 the percentage of people employed in County Durham in higher level occupations (such as directors, managers, professionals and semi-professionals), has slowly increased from 10.7% to 13.1% but this proportion is still lower than national levels which increased from 13.4% to 16.7% over the same period. In addition, the gap between the county and England has remained the same at around an average of 2.4 percentage points.
Between 2004 and 2021 the percentage of people in employment in the county with higher level qualifications (NVQ4+) increased from 27.3% to 36.9%, however, as the chart below shows, the national rate has also increased (from 29.9% to 49.1%), and the gap between the county and England has also increased from 2.7 percentage points to 12.2 points.
In contrast, at other qualifications levels, (for example GCSEs, A-levels, and those with no qualifications), the County has converged with the national averages. The only part of the County that has a higher proportion of residents with degree level qualifications than the national average is the Durham City area – all other parts of the County are below the national rate. The implications are that the County remains vulnerable to economic downturns, automation, and the relocation of higher quality jobs elsewhere.
Looking at the trend over time the county has remained behind the national levels for people employed in higher-level occupations and with higher-level qualifications and the gaps are widening.
Jobs Below the Living Wage (2022)
Following an ad-hoc request to the Office for national Statistics on estimates of people earning less than the Living Wage Foundation hourly rates (£9.90 in 2022 outside London), a dataset was published on the ONS website. Note: That the data included may not be suitable for all analytical purposes as they were produced in response to an ad hoc request and it is possible that a revision could occur to the data.
These estimates suggest that around one in six employees in County Durham were earning less than the current living wage foundation rate of £9.90, (16.6%/30,000 employees). Across England the proportion was 12.5%.
Further information on wages is available in the infographic on the Average Earnings (Wages) page.
Research & Development Investment
Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS) –Estimates of R&D Investment.
The R&D investment data shows that England, NE have the highest investment coming from businesses followed by higher education, whereas County Durham has the majority coming from Higher education i.e Durham University, with business investment the next highest.
This demonstrates a low business R&D investment compared to national figures with the overall being artificially supported by the universities.
County Durham also has low government R&D investment and high Private Non-profit R&D investment as a proportion of the total local investment.
Investment per capita shows County Durham is extremely low at £185.6 compared to £554.5 in England, possibly due to the cheap R&D costs in universities and a higher proportion of that in the county. The following tables summarises this dataset.