Devon has the19th largest economy in England out of 46ceremonial counties. Situated in the region ofSouth West England, it is a maritime county. Like neighbouringCornwall to the west,Devon is disadvantaged economically compared to other parts of southern England, owing to the decline of a number of core industries, notably fishing, mining and farming. Consequently, most of Devon has qualified for theEuropean Community'sObjective 2 status, particularly aroundExmoor,Bideford Bay and theHartland Point peninsula which is somewhat cut off from industrial Britain due to poor road and rail transport links. These areas of North Devon are, however, only around 50 miles (80 km) by boat fromSwansea in Wales. A proposal which has the backing of both theWelsh Assembly Government and theSouth West Regional Assembly, as well asDevon County Council, is a year-round ferry service from eitherIlfracombe or Bideford to Swansea, which it is hoped would stimulate economic growth in both south-west Wales and the north coasts of Devon and Cornwall.^{[citation needed]}

The2001 UK foot and mouth crisis harmed the farming community severely.^[1]

Since the rise of seaside resorts with the arrival of the railways in the 19th century, Devon's economy has been heavily reliant on tourism. The county's economy has followed the declining trend of British seaside resorts since the mid 20th century, with some recent revival. This revival has been aided by the designation of much of Devon's countryside and coastline as theDartmoor andExmoor national parks, and theJurassic Coast andCornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Sites. In 2004 the county's tourist revenue was £1.2 billion.^[2]

TheMet Office is inExeter as isConnaught plc, andPennon Group, the water company. TheWrigley Company (chewing gum) andHMNB Devonport (the largest naval base in western Europe) are in Plymouth.Torquay was home toBeverage Brands, the producers ofWKD Original Vodka.Britannia Royal Naval College is atDartmouth.

Mining for tin and copper was carried on in Devon from ancient times until the 1930s: seeDartmoor tin-mining. Agriculture has been an important industry in South West England since the 19th century: approximately 80% of land in the South West of England is in agricultural use (19.6% of England's total).^[3]

In the later 19th and early 20th centuries there were a number ofpotteries in the county, mainly based aroundTorquay in the south (for instanceAller Vale Pottery), and Barnstaple in the north. At first these made high-qualityart pottery, but later declined to the manufacture of mass-producedmottoware for the tourist industry.

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Devon at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) byOffice for National Statistics with figures in millions ofpounds.^[4]

• Economy of Devon

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