State of the Region Report

The key messages from the latest report include

• The West Yorkshire economy has been performing relatively strongly in recent years, outperforming the national average on central measures of economic performance including overall growth, productivity, new firm formation and qualification attainment.  However, the latest data for 2023 shows a slowdown in economic growth in the region (although the rate still exceeds the national average) with a decline in output for some of the local authorities.  The region needs to outperform the national average over a sustained period to close structural gaps, as set out in the Local Growth Plan.
• Economic inclusion continues to present major challenges, with West Yorkshire still feeling the impact of the cost of living crisis in terms of household income, wages, rents and fuel poverty.
• In terms of regeneration, a key message is that housing supply saw strong growth in 2023/24 which should contribute to improved housing affordability in future.  Also, West Yorkshire continues to outperform the national average with high levels of coverage of digital infrastructure.
• The region is seeing reductions in greenhouse gas emissions – they are falling faster in West Yorkshire than nationally and the emissions intensity of the region’s economy (which measures emissions per £ of output) also continues to fall.  But a huge challenge remains to reach net zero by 2038 in line with the Combined Authority’s commitment.
•  A key issue in this regard is that transport emissions are less susceptible to reduction than other parts of the economy; this is partly about reducing West Yorkshire’s dependence on private car trips.
• Turning to other transport-related indicators, there has been improvement in the Access Inequality Ratio, reflecting improved access to jobs for residents of deprived neighbourhoods via the bus network; but performance remains below the pre-pandemic position.  In addition, there was a significant improvement in satisfaction with the affordability of public transport among West Yorkshire residents in 2023/24.