 TheBeetham Tower, one of the largest buildings outside of London | |
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Population | 579,917 (2023)[1] |
| GDP | £38.0 billion (2023)[1] |
GDP per capita | £65,591 (2023)[1] |
Labour force | 288,600 / 71.4% in employment (Jan–Dec 2023)[a][2] |
Labour force by occupation | List
|
| Unemployment | 15,500 / 5.1% (Jan–Dec 2023)[c][2] |
Average gross salary | £634.80 per week (2023)[d][2] |
| External | |
| Exports | £6.3 billion (2021)[e][3] |
Export goods | £1.6 billion (2021)[f][3] |
| Imports | £5.6 billion (2021)[e][3] |
Import goods | £3.4 billion (2021)[f][3] |
Theeconomy of Manchester is among the largest in England.Manchester is a city andmetropolitan borough ofGreater Manchester. It lies within the United Kingdom'ssecond-most populous urban area, with a population of 2.55 million.[4] Manchester'scommercial centre is inManchester city centre, focused onSpinningfields,Mosley Street,Deansgate,King Street andPiccadilly Gardens.[5]
Historically, the world's first industrialised city,[6] the region was once in economic and population decline.[7] In 2012 Greater Manchester South, which includes the cities of Manchester andSalford and three othermetropolitan boroughs, was thelargest NUTS3 area outside London in economic terms, and growth was 3.8% vs theCore Cities average of 2%.[8] Between 2002 and 2012 Greater Manchester South grew 45% vs. national growth of 44%.[9] Meanwhile, the 2011 census also showed that Manchester was the fastest growing city in the UK in terms of population.[10][11] Manchester is also a city of contrast, where some of the UK's most deprived and most affluent neighbourhoods can be found.[12][13] According to the 2010Indices of Multiple Deprivation Manchester is the 4th most deprived local authority in England.[14] On the other hand, Greater Manchester is home to more multi-millionaires than anywhere outside London, with the City of Manchester taking up most of the tally.[15] In 2013 Manchester was ranked 6th in the UK for quality of life, according to a rating of the UK's 12 largest cities.[16]
Manchester is considered to be a 'beta -'global city, rated as the second most globally influential city in the UK after London with Edinburgh third, Belfast fourth and Glasgow fifth.[17] The region is now an economic knowledge-led centre, with research and enterprise clustered around theUniversity of Manchester,[18] where research ranked as the third most powerful in the UK behindCambridge andOxford.[19] Typical industry areas include: digital and creative,financial, legal and business services,biotechnology, advanced manufacturing,environmental technologies,tourism, global sports brands,media andreal estate. The city is also a key location for many foreign owned companies and headquarters, and almost half of theNorthwest's Top 500 businesses.[20]Manchester City Council also plays a uniquely active role in business, where it owns key infrastructures such as a 35.5% stake inManchester Airports Group, which owns other UK airports such asLondon Stansted Airport, and is the owner of theCity of Manchester Stadium, home to one of the world's highest earning football clubs.[21]
Below is a collection of economic indices featuring Manchester. While useful, surveys and indicators have limitations, and are at times subjective and incomplete. For example, no complete list of factors affecting quality of life can be created, and the way people weigh these factors differs.
| Year | GVA (£ million) | Growth (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 24,011 |  3.8% |
| 2003 | 25,063 | 4.4% |
| 2004 | 27,862 | 11.2% |
| 2005 | 28,579 | 2.6% |
| 2006 | 30,384 | 6.3% |
| 2007 | 32,011 | 5.4% |
| 2008 | 32,081 | 0.2% |
| 2009 | 33,186 | 3.4% |
| 2010 | 33,751 | 1.7% |
| 2011 | 33,468 |  0.8% |
| 2012 | 34,755 | 3.8% |
TheOffice for National Statistics does not produceGVA data for the City of Manchester alone, instead the sub-region of Greater Manchester (GM) is divided into two groups of authorities to formNUTS 3 areas for statistical purposes:
Greater Manchester South (Manchester,Salford,Stockport,Tameside,Trafford)
Greater Manchester North (Bolton,Bury,Oldham,Rochdale,Wigan)
Manchester can only be analysed alongside neighbouringmetropolitan boroughs within GM South, which tend to have high levels of economic coherence nevertheless; for example,Salford Central railway station is less than 150 meters (170 yards) away from the boundary of Manchester city centre whilst Salford itself has no identifiable city centre.[29]
In 2012, Greater Manchester South'sGVA was £34.8bn ($61.5bn), accounting for 68.2% of the GVA of theGreater Manchester, 26.6% of the GVA of theNorth West and 2.5% of the GVA of theUK.Compared with otherNUTS 3 areas in the UK, the economy of Greater Manchester South is exceeded only byLondon (comprising five NUTS 3 areas - £309.3bn), and annual GVA growth was 3.8% vs. theCore Cities average of 2%.1[8]
| Area | GVA (£ million) | GVA growth (%) 2011-12 | GVA (£ per head) | GVA per head growth (%) 2011-12 |
| GM South | 34,755 | 3.8% | 23,476 | 2.9% |
| Greater Manchester | 50,991 | 3.1% | 18,870 | 2.5% |
| Core Cities average1 | 13,752 | 2.0% | 22,452 | 1.0% |
1excluding Manchester, included Newcastle, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Nottingham, Bristol and Birmingham
GVA per employee in Greater Manchester South is estimated to be £46,500 in 2012. Compared with otherNUTS 3 city areas in the UK, Greater Manchester South ranks 4th, behind London (£75,100),Edinburgh (£54,100) andLeeds (£46,900).[9]
| Area | GVA per worker (£) | GVA per worker % change 2007-12 |
| GM South | 46,500 | 12% |
| Core Cities average2 | 40,100 | 10.1% |
2excluding Manchester, included Newcastle, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Nottingham, Bristol and Birmingham
| Sector | Value (£ millions) | Growth 2010–11 (%) | % of total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 25 | 8.0 | <0.1 |
| Production | 3,441 | 1.8 | 10.3 |
| of which manufacturing | 2,711 | 1.5 | 8.1 |
| Construction | 1,688 | 3.5 | 5.0 |
| Distribution; transport; accommodation and food | 6,613 | 3.1 | 19.8 |
| Information and communication | 1,828 | 0.2 | 5.5 |
| Financial and insurance services | 3,217 | 15.9 | 9.6 |
| Real estate activities | 4,192 | 13.1 | 12.5 |
| Business service activities | 4,652 | 15.9 | 13.9 |
| Public administration, education and health | 6,563 | 0.9 | 19.6 |
| Other services and household activities | 1,248 | 5.0 | 3.7 |
| Total | 33,468 | 0.8 |
According to Office for National Statistics figures, Manchester's nominal GDP per capita was £35,864 in 2011 and rose to £65,591 in 2023, representing a 83% increase.[30] Adjusted for inflation, the figures were £22,174 in 2011 and 35,255 in 2023 in 2022 fixed prices—representing a 58% real increase, the greatest inflation-adjusted growth of any British city and third-greatest of any statistical region, behind only Berkshire West and Hackney & Newham.[30] For context, the UK economy as a whole grew by only 20% between 2011 and 2023.[30]
In 2023, Greater Manchester had a total nominal GDP of 110 billion, accounting for approximately 41% of the GDP of the North West. This made it the biggest urban contributor to national GDP behind London. Its GDP was slightly larger than the combined GDP of Wales, which stood at c. £93 billion, and compared to €248 billion (£215 billion) for Dublin,[31] £617 billion for Greater London[30] and €860 billion (£745 billion) for the Paris metropolitan region (Île-de-France).[32]
The mid-year estimate for the population of Manchester was 510,800 in 2012 and population growth on the previous year was 1.56%, the second highest of theCore Cities afterNottingham.[33] An estimated 6,402,684 people lived within 30 miles of Manchester, and 11,472,603 within 50 miles.[34] The 2011 Census also showed that between 2001 and 2011, the population of Manchester grew 19%, making it the fastest growing area in the UK outside London. Whilst the population of Manchester grew more than both Birmingham and Liverpool combined, there has also been a reversal of the traditionalbrain drain to theSouth, where some 1,600 people moved from London to Manchester in 2010.[35]
| Age 16-64 | Manchester (%) | North West (%) | Great Britain (%) |
| Economically active | 69.4 | 75.4 | 77.3 |
| In employment | 60.8 | 69.1 | 71.1 |
| Unemployed | 11.9 | 8.2 | 7.8 |
| % of economically active who are self-employed | 6.4 | 8.4 | 9.5 |
It would appear that Manchester has a high rate of economic inactivity, however Manchester has an above average student population size, where 39.5% of those economically inactive are students vs. the British average of 25.4%.[37]
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1Median earnings in pounds for employees living in the area.
2Median earnings in pounds for employees working in area.
| Level | Manchester (%) | North West (%) | Great Britain (%) |
| NVQ4 and above | 37.4 | 30.3 | 34.4 |
| NVQ3 and above | 56.0 | 52.0 | 55.1 |
| NVQ2 and above | 69.1 | 69.9 | 71.8 |
| NVQ1 and above | 79.5 | 83.1 | 84.0 |
| Other qualifications | 7.3 | 5.8 | 6.3 |
| No qualifications | 13.3 | 11.1 | 9.7 |
| Manchester (%) | England (%) | |
| Pupils achieving 5+ GCSEs, A*-C | 81.3 | 81.8 |
| Pupils achieving 5+ GCSEs, A*-C with English and Maths | 53.2 | 59.4 |
| Pupils achieving no GCSEs | 1.6 | 0.5 |
As the UK economy continued to recover from the downturn experienced in 2008–10, Manchester compared favourably to other areas. It achieved the strongest annual growth in business stock (of 5%) of all theCore Cities.[41] The city experienced a relatively sharp increase in the number of business deaths, the largest increase of all the Core Cities; however this was offset by strong growth in new businesses which resulted in a strong net growth.
| Area | Business Stock | Births | Deaths | 5 year survival rates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (% annual changes) | ||||
| Manchester | 5.0% | 6.5% | 18.2% | 41.5% |
| Greater Manchester | 1.2% | 2.5% | 9.5% | 42.4% |
| Core Cities average | 3.1% | 6.2% | 4.3% | 40.4% |
Manchester is a major headquarters location, with a growing number of global, European and national headquarter offices. International property expertsCushman & Wakefield have ranked Manchester as the best city to locate a new headquarters operation largely down to ease of access to a pool of knowledge and global connectivity. Companies with global headquarters in Manchester includeUmbro,PZ Cussons, andThe Co-Operative Group. Manchester is also the European headquarters for companies likeBrother andUAE firmEtihad Airways.Kellogg's,Adidas,Siemens andTotesport are amongst hundreds of firms with national headquarters in Manchester.[42]Well Pharmacy is based in Central Manchester and the largestpharmaceutical company based in the North of England.
Manchester's ability to host major headquarter offices has been recently proven by the action taken by theBBC to move significant parts of its operation toMediaCityUK on the banks of theManchester Ship Canal inSalford andTrafford, by the growth of shared service centres forSainsbury's,Marks & Spencer and theRoyal Bank of Scotland, and by the presence foreign language back-office teams serving more than 20 different markets.[42]
Manchester is the preferred distribution hub for global companies likeAdidas,Argos,Kellogg's,L'Oreal,Office Depot,Procter and Gamble; and major logistics firms such asKuehne & Nagel andWincanton. Manchester is centrally located and has more motorways than any other UK city. Every major population centre from Edinburgh to London can be reached within a four-hour drive; and 60% of UK companies are within a two-hour drive.[43]
Manchester Airport is home to the World Freight Terminal, the fifth busiest in the UK behindHeathrow,East Midlands Airport,Gatwick andStansted, where cargo Airlines such asCathay Pacific Cargo,China Airlines Cargo,Lufthansa Cargo andFedEx Express serve global destinations from Manchester. Following the decision by Beijing Engineering Construction Group to invest in Manchester'sAirport City, freight and distribution firmDHL has agreed to relocate major operations to the site.[44]
Trafford Park, is the world's first plannedindustrial estate,[45] and remains the largest in Europe.[46] The site is also home to Trafford Park EuroTerminal, a rail freight terminal and a large container depot. Future enhancements of the site are entailed in the proposed £50 billionAtlantic Gateway, which could be one of the most expensive and expansive development projects in UK history. It would involve the creation ofPort Salford, an inland freight terminal accessible to theIrish Sea via theManchester Ship Canal.
The Manchester city region accounts for 7% of all financial services output and 10% of all employment in the UK, and over 60 banks have operations in Manchester, 40 of which are overseas-owned, making it the largest regional corporate finance and stockbroking centre in England.[47] In 2011, Manchester's financial and insurance sector was worth £3.22 billion, the 3rd largest in the United Kingdom after London andEdinburgh.[48] The city also had the sixth-largest number of employees employed in the financial and insurance sector in the United Kingdom, with more than 96,300 people employed inbanking,finance andinsurance, translating to 31.4% of all employees, the 2nd highest rate of all theCore Cities after Bristol.[49] Of all the 10 largest financial centres in the UK, only Manchester and Cardiff have maintained financial sector employment levels, whilst other cities sustained heavy job losses in recent years.[50]
Some notable operations in the city include theRoyal Bank of Scotland, who employ 7,000 people in Manchester following a rising trend innearshoring from London.[50]The Co-operative Group, the world's largest consumer-owned business with large banking and insurance operations was founded in Manchester in 1844. The group's headquarters have been in Manchester ever since, and itsnew £100 million headquarters, withOne Angel Square recently declared the greenest building on earth.[51] TheBank of New York Mellon opened its Manchester headquarters in 2005, and since then has expanded to over 1,100 employees and added a second office inSpinningfields. The bank describes Manchester as one of its "three global growth centres",[50] with the office handling £15 billion worth of transactions across 80 global money markets every day.[52]
Spinningfields is a large new business district west of Deansgate that will serve as home to several headquarters, squares, and cafes. The first building on the site was theRoyal Bank of Scotland's new headquarters. Some have speculated that Spinningfields is fast becoming theCanary Wharf of the North,[53][54] with theFinancial Times noting, "London hasCanary Wharf andParis hasLa Défense, Manchester has its own modern financial centre in the form of Spinningfields".[55] As well asBank of New York Mellon and the Royal Bank of Scotland, Spinningfields is the location for other banks includingBarclays andHSBC, and other professional services firms such asDeloitte.
Assets which contribute to the success of Manchester'sCorporate services sector include a pool of 30,000 new graduates each year from the city's universities, andManchester Business School, which has a strong international reputation with global 1st-place rankings in some categories.[56] The city also benefits with links to world leading financial centres, with direct flights toNew York City,Frankfurt,Geneva andSingapore. There arehigh-speed trains to London every 20 minutes, and multiple shuttle flights toLondon Heathrow Airport. The Lord Mayor of the City of London once said "Manchester is part of the Square Mile and the Square Mile is part of Manchester".[57]
The city and Greater Manchester region have benefited from large-scale developments such as the ongoingMetrolink expansion, the £650mMediaCityUK development and the largest development in the UK,NOMA, at a cost of £800m.[58] Future developments include the £800mManchester Airport City, which will be the largest UK development project since the London 2012 Olympics,[59] the Etihad Campus project[60] in conjunction withManchester City F.C. and the £50 billionAtlantic Gateway project which aims to reinvigorate theManchester Ship Canal. TheUniversity of Manchester is also investing £1 billion in developing its campus over the next decade.[61]
The pedestrianisedMarket Street forms the core of the city centre's retail area. It is dominated on the north side by theManchester Arndale and a branch ofDebenhams. The city centre also has smaller centres includingThe Triangle, which caters to youthful and upmarket clientele, and theRoyal Exchange Centre. The Shambles includesHarvey Nichols,Marks & Spencer, andSelfridges stores, as well as a number of designerboutiques. Overall, Manchester has the highest number of "premium retailers" and in 2010 turnover in Manchester city centre was £921m.[62]
Deansgate also has many shops, including department storeHouse of Fraser (formerly Kendals), along withpubs and bars.King Street is an affluent shopping area with exclusive fashion brand stores, as well as many notable buildings preserved in a conservation area. Other hubs in the centre include St Ann's Square, andExchange Square.
Former stores includeLewis's, Henry's, and Affleck and Brown (nowAffleck's Palace).
There are various markets[63] held regularly within the city. In the run up to Christmas, the Manchester Christmas Markets[64][65] take overAlbert Square, St. Ann's Square and surrounding streets. It started as a traditional German/French Christmas market, hence the large number of Glühwein & sausage stalls. This has grown year on year and boasts an increasingly wide range of stalls fromWestern Europe (such as theNetherlands,Italy,Spain). The markets provide food and drink into the evening extending the use of the city centre and lending a friendly spirit to Christmas shopping.
Manchester is regarded as theNorth's only major international gateway, with a multimodal integrated transport network. TheManchester city region was ranked in the top 10 in Europe for transport links byCushman & Wakefield's European cities monitor 2011.
Manchester Airport is the third largest airport in the UK behindHeathrow andGatwick, handling more than 20.5 million passengers between 2012–13, which is more thandouble the number of annual passengers of the next busiest non-London airport. It is also the fastest growing airport afterHeathrow andGatwick, with an annual growth of 9.1% between 2012-13.[67] Manchester airport serves over 200 destinations, more than any other airport in the UK, and onlyAmsterdam Schiphol Airport serves more foreign destinations in the global league table. Daily services fly toEurope,North America,Africa, theMiddle-East and theFar-East, and the airport has been awarded the UK's best airport every year from 2008 to 2012.[68]
The airport is owned by apublic sector controlled holding company,Manchester Airports Group.Manchester City Council has a majority 35.5% stake with 45% owned by the nine boroughs ofGreater Manchester who all have a 5% stake and the rest by private investors. The airport employs approximately 19,000 people.[69]
Manchester is served by four stations in the city centre;Manchester Piccadilly (18.5 million passengers),Manchester Victoria (9.8 million passengers),Manchester Oxford Road (8.3 million passengers) andDeansgate (0.35 million passengers), which form theManchester station group with a combined passenger usage of 37 million passengers in 2011-12.[70] Manchester will be at the heart of the £560 millionNorthern Hub development, which will see all four Manchester stations connected, increased electrification of networks, increased frequencies and reduced journey times between Northern cities.[71][72]
Under government plans, Manchester Piccadilly will be connected toLondon Euston viaHigh Speed 2, ahigh-speed railway, by 2033.[needs update] Trains will also stop at Manchester Airport. Journey times from Manchester to London are expected to reduce from 2h:08m to 1h:08m.[73]
The city is served by the UK's largest light rail network, theMetrolink, which stretches fromBury,Oldham andRochdale in the north toSalford,Eccles to the west,Manchester Airport andAltrincham in the south andAshton-under-Lyne to the east. The most recent expansion of the Metrolink service to Trafford Park and the Trafford Centre opened in March 2020.[74] The network serves key destinations including MediaCityUK, Chorlton, the Etihad Stadium, East Didsbury, Central Park and Kingsway Business Park.
The city's bus services,GM Buses, were demerged in 1996 withStagecoach Group gaining control of GM South bus services andFirst Bus gaining control of GM North bus services.Stagecoach Manchester is Stagecoach Group's largest subsidiary carrying over 87 million passengers a year and employing 1,700 staff.[75]First Greater Manchester also operate a thorough bus service in Manchester alongside Stagecoach.
Manchester is the only city in the UK to offer next generation fibre optic broadband speeds up to 200 Mbit/s, and serves as a testbed for new technologies.[76] InMediaCityUK, download speeds reach 10 gigabits/second. Being at a central location in the UK, all primary telecom carriers and fibre optic networks converge through Manchester, making it a principal access point for the North of England.MaNAP - Manchester Network Access Point - is a major internet traffic hub mainly serving theMidlands and North of England, and is the only access point outside London, offering access to world networks at a much lower cost than through London.
Manchester is at the forefront ofcloud computing, with companies such asCisco,Oracle andEMC all located in the city, andIBM is currently developing virtualised environments for cloud computing in their Manchester research laboratory.Outsourcery, the UK's leading provider of cloud computing solutions and mobile-centricUnified Communications toSMEs, is headquartered in Manchester. Several hosting and colocation providers such asUKFast,Daisy Group and Datacentreplus have invested in new data centres in Manchester to support cloud computing.
Manchester is also home to a burgeoning community of digital companies, specialising in fields as diverse asSEO (search engine optimisation),web design and online PR.[77] The rise of Manchester's digital commerce scene is evidenced by the establishment of its own online hubManchester Digital, along with websites aimed at bringing together companies and individuals involved in more specific fields, such as SEO.[78]
Manchester is thesecond most visited city in England (after London) and the third most visited in the United Kingdom (behind Edinburgh).[79]
Visit Manchester is the tourist board for the city-region and is a division of Marketing Manchester, which was established in 1996. It is the agency charged with promoting the city of Manchester on a national and international stage. The organisation aims to develop the Manchester city-region into a leading leisure, learning and business destination for domestic and international visitors, enhance the national and international reputation of the city-region and promote sustainable economic development and growth.
The city has links withUmbro andReebok, both companies were founded nearby inWilmslow andBolton respectively. Another major sports apparel company,Adidas, has its UK head office inStockport[80] and its national distribution warehouse in nearbyTrafford Park[81] - both sites total 60% of Adidas's UK workforce.[82]
Manchester is also popularly known for its major football clubs,Manchester City andManchester United,[83] both have a combined revenue of €1,213.9m (Manchester City - €524.9m and Manchester United - €689m).[21] Both clubs' popularity makesManchester the richest footballing city in the UK by revenue. OnlyLondon, with three clubs (€1,195.6m - total revenue ofChelsea F.C.,Arsenal F.C. andTottenham Hotspur) can boast comparable figures according to the 2015-16 Deloitte Money League table.[84][circular reference]
Manchester has a range of restaurants, bars, and clubs, spanning the famous "Curry Mile" inRusholme to traditional ‘grub’. The city has aChinatown area.
The city is also home to some famous food manufacturing companies.Kellogg's have based their European headquarters in Trafford Park since 1937. McVitie's also has a key production site in Stockport Road where it has been based since 1917.
%2c_China_Airlines_Cargo_JP5752085.jpg)
{{cite web}}:External link in|title=By 2016 the expansion programme will mean Greater Manchester will have the largest tram network in the UK.
