Rebalancing the Economy

The UK is set to be more geographically balanced over the next three years. However, this is due to slower growth in the services sector having a detrimental impact on the south of the UK rather than other regions 'catching up' through improved performance, finds EY's Regional Economic Forecast.


Key findings include:

• Brexit uncertainty for the UK capital: London will continue to outperform all other UK regions through to 2021, however the gap is expected to become smaller.
• The South East is the only region expected to see an increase in employment growth: A slowing economy, expected lower EU immigration and technological change are all contributing to this anticipated shift in the labour market.
• Regions with a large manufacturing base enjoyed a boost last year: This was due to weaker sterling making exports more competitive. The West Midlands benefitted from this. However, more subdued growth is expected for these regions in 2018-21.