Creating a UK Competitiveness Index: Regional and local benchmarking

This article assesses the relative economic competitiveness of regions and localities in the UK by constructing a single index that reflects, as fully as possible, the measurable criteria constituting 'area competitiveness'. Other studies and research on competitiveness within the UK have measured relevant factors in isolation, and have not sought to produce an overall composite index at either a regional or local level. This article aims to go some way to filling this gap. The UK Index of Competitiveness highlights the unevenness of economic fortunes in the UK and the strong possibility of the gaps widening even further.