The differences between Wales' three largest cities compared to each other, and the rest of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ, have been laid out in a new report. Cardiff, Swansea, and Newport are among the 63 cities whose data was analysed by Centre for Cities in their new Cities Outlook report.
The report found that out of the 63 largest towns and cities nearly all those with above-average salaries for the º£½ÇÊÓƵ are in the southeast of England.
It also shows how Cardiff is the Welsh city with the highest percentage of people with no formal qualifications. Swansea ranks in the bottom 10 in terms of the ratio of public to private sector jobs and is one of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's slowest-growing cities. These are the report's key findings.
Wages
All cities have struggled since the financial crisis. Most places have not seen a pay increase (once adjusted for inflation) since 2008.
London has the highest workplace wages of any city or large town in Britain with pay being 24% higher than the national average and 68% higher than Burnley (the place with the lowest workplace pay).
The º£½ÇÊÓƵ's average weekly workplace earning is £715.50. The Welsh average is £619.30 which, broken down by the three cities featured in the report, show Cardiff's is £677.40, Swansea's is £607.20, and Newport's is £643.40.
The report says workers in London will, by early August, be paid £29,500, which is the average yearly wage in Burnley. Looking at the Welsh cities Cardiff hits that milestone in early November and workers in Newport hit that metric in mid-November while Swansea is 53rd in the ranking with workers hitting it in early December.
Urban vs non-urban
There are large differences in wages across the country and workplace wages in cities and large towns are higher than non-urban areas in all parts of the country. The national average weekly workplace wage is £716. In Welsh urban areas that figure is £647 and in non-urban areas it is £600. The report compares the greater southeast, Scotland, southwest, Northern Ireland, Midlands, north, and Wales. That £600 figure for non-urban areas is the second-lowest across all of those and the £647 for urban areas is the lowest.
'Cutting-edge' business
Productivity growth will likely be driven by the cutting edge of the economy in sectors like AI, wearables, and net zero. The report says that to assess the cities against each other it is important to look at how successful somewhere has been at attracting and growing this type of activity. Cardiff ranks well in this category and is higher than the º£½ÇÊÓƵ average of 26.7% at 31.4%. Swansea is very near the bottom with 14.3% and Newport is lower at 13.7%. The report defines the cutting edge of the economy is defined in terms of the number of 'new economy' firms per 10,000 people in a given place. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here.
All cities under their wage potential
Cardiff, Swansea, and Newport are all operating below their wage potential but by varying degrees. The national average weekly wage is £716 and while Cardiff is closest to that the chart below shows the gap between its potential and current wage based on city size. The gap in Swansea is largest, Cardiff is in the middle, and Newport's is the smallest of all three Welsh cities included in this report.
Swansea is one of º£½ÇÊÓƵ's the slowest-growing cities
The report also looks at the growth of population in the cities. Swansea is 55th on the list. In 2003 the population was 389,640 and in 2013 it grew to 378,330 – a change of 11,310. The 3% rise is less than half the º£½ÇÊÓƵ average of 6.1%.
It also ranks badly on productivity...
Gross value added (GVA) per hour is a measure of labour productivity that estimates the value of goods and services produced per hour worked and can be used to assess regional economic performance. At 28.8%, Swansea is one of the 10 with the lowest GVA. The º£½ÇÊÓƵ average is £36 per hour.
...and in terms of business start-ups and closures
Swansea is 58th out of 63 in terms of business start-ups with 31.2% start-ups per 10,000 population and 33% closures per 10,000 population. The "churn rate" was -0.7% – worse than the º£½ÇÊÓƵ average of -0.3%.
Ratio of private to public sector jobs
The report compares the level of private to public jobs in 2023. Swansea again ranks in the bottom 10 with a ratio of 1.7, which is below the º£½ÇÊÓƵ average of 2.8. It is also in the lowest 10 for average weekly workplace earnings at £607.20 – below the £715.50 average.
Qualifications
The Welsh city with the lowest formal qualification level is Cardiff. In the 10 cities with the highest percentage of people with no formal qualifications Cardiff ranks eighth with 11.4%. That is above the º£½ÇÊÓƵ average of 6.6%.
House price increases
Swansea is the º£½ÇÊÓƵ city with the second-highest increase in house prices. The average price of a house in 2024 was £196,500 while in 2023 it was £193,700. Swansea is the city in the report which has the lowest housing stock growth. Its 2023 figure was 181,500 and in 2022 it was 181,300.
Greenhouse gas emissions
Two Welsh cities feature in the 10 cities with the highest emissions per capita. Newport is 58th out of 63 while Swansea is in bottom place in 63rd. In terms of days a year of poor air quality Cardiff and Swansea both feature. In 2024 there were 19 days of poor air quality in Cardiff while in Swansea it was 20. Sunderland, the best, had just one whereas Southend, the worst, had tw.
