Regional gross domestic product and gross value added: 1998 to 2021

Gross domestic product (GDP)

In 2021, GDP in Wales was estimated at £79.7 billion, in current prices. GDP in Wales increased by 9.1% between 2020 and 2021 in chained volume measures, following a decrease of 11.5% in 2020.

In 2021, GDP for the UK is estimated to have increased by 7.5%, following a decrease of 11.0% in 2020.

All UK countries and regions reported negative growth in 2020 because of the widespread economic impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, followed by a partial recovery in 2021.

Of the four countries in the UK, Wales saw the largest increase in real GDP of 9.1% between 2020 and 2021. Scotland showed the largest decrease in real GDP in 2020 (a decrease of 11.8%) followed by the smallest increase in 2021 at 7.5%.

GDP per head in Wales in 2021 was £25,665.

Gross value added (balanced)

Total GVA in Wales in 2021 was £69.5 billion, up 7.5% on 2020 and an increase of 2.3% on 2019. This compares to an increase of 7.1% for the UK (excluding extra-regio) from 2020 and 2.3% from 2019.

Both the increases for Wales and for the UK from 2020 were the largest since records began and were mainly the result of the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

GVA per head in Wales in 2021 was £22,380.

GVA per head in Wales in 2021 was 74.1% of the UK figure (excluding extra-regio), the second lowest of the UK countries and English regions.

Data for other lower geographical areas are available (to local authorities and city regions).

Notes

• GDP and GVA is given at current basic prices, unless otherwise stated.
• GDP in real terms have the effects of inflation removed by holding prices throughout the series at the level in a chosen base year.
• Note that ONS advises users not to calculate growth rates in GDP and GVA per head, but instead to look at annual growth in real GDP to compare the performance of areas over time. This is due to a discontinuity in the population estimates between 2020 and 2021 (Census 2021 has recently provided us with new estimates of the population of areas in 2021, but we do not yet have rebased estimates for the intercensal years 2012 to 2020).