Local economic information
To help businesses with their relocation decisions, we have created an economic profile for Ashfield.
Economic profile
- Population:131,093 (As of 2021 taken from Lightcast Emsi Burning Glass Economic Report*)
- Working age population (aged 16 to 64): 78,000 (NOMIS, December 2022)
- Our labour force: 67,350 people
- Average wages - £564 per week
- Unemployment - 2910 people (This equates to 3.73% of the working age population) (NOMIS, January 2023)
- Average housing prices - £178,385 (This is 34% lower than regional average)
- Number of businesses - 4276 businesses (As identified in January 2023 from FAME)
- Number of business parks - 13 (See the commercial property page on this website for details)
- Number of retail shops - 700 (an approximate figure, as this changes periodically)
- Number of people employed in our district - 50,973 (From Lightcast December 2022 report)
- In demand skills include: Warehousing, Nursing, Auditing and Mental Health all are above the the national average in our District (From Lightcast December 2202 Report)
- GDP £3.3 Billion; Ashfield contributes 0.2% to the UK Economy. (From Varbes November 2022)
Major industries
- Health
- Wholesale & Retail
- Manufacturing
- Construction
- Transport and storage
- Education
Quick Summary of main take away information:
- As of 2021 our population as increased by 5.3% since 2016, growing by 6580. Population is expected to increase by 4.2% between 2021 and 2026, adding 5544
- Ashfield's labour market retirement risk is about average. The national average for an area this size is 47,905 people 55 or older, while there are 49,116 in Ashfield
- From 2016 to 2021, jobs have declined by 0.1% in Ashfield from 51,006 to 50,979. This change fell short of the national growth rate of 1.3% by 1.4%
- Concerning educational attainment, 15.0% of Ashfield residents possess a Degree or equivalent and above - SCQF level 9 (Scottish credit and qualifications framework )(18.6% below the national average), and 7.3% hold a Higher Education below Degree level - SCQF L7-8 (0.7% below the national average)
- Our top 3 industries in 2021 are Hospital activities, Construction of other Civil Engineering projects and Warehousing and Storage
- Our top 3 growing industries are Hospital activities, Transportation and Storage, Information and Communication.
Contact us
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This page was last updated March 2023.