 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2014) |
 Bristol City Centre | |
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Population | 482,998 (2023)[1] |
| GDP | £22.8 billion (2023)[1] |
GDP per capita | £47,148 (2023)[1] |
Bristol is a city in south west England. Its economy has long connections with the sea and its ports. In the 20th centuryaeronautics played an important role in the economy, and the city still plays a role in the manufacture of aircraft. Bristol is also a tourist destination, and has significant media, information technology and financial services sectors.[2] Reports released in 2018 showed that the city is growing exponentially with a projected 2.3 percent annual growth rate until 2020.[3]
Bristol has a long history of trade, originally exporting wool cloth and importing fish, wine, grain and dairy products;[4] later imports were tobacco, tropical fruits and plantation goods. Major imports are motor vehicles, grain, timber,produce and petroleum products.[5] Since the 13th century, the rivers have been modified for docks; during the 1240s, the Frome was diverted into a deep, human-made channel (known as Saint Augustine's Reach) which flowed into the River Avon.[6][7]
Ships occasionally departed Bristol forIceland as early as 1420, and speculation exists that sailors (fishermen who landed on the Canadian coast to salt/ smoke their catch) from Bristol made landfall in the Americas beforeChristopher Columbus or John Cabot.[8] Beginning in the early 1480s, the BristolSociety of Merchant Venturers sponsored exploration of the North Atlantic in search of trading opportunities.[8] In 1552,Edward VI granted aroyal charter to the Merchant Venturers to manage the port. Among explorers to depart from the port after Cabot wereMartin Frobisher,Thomas James, after whomJames Bay, on southern coast ofHudson Bay is named, andMartin Pring, who discoveredCape Cod and the southernNew England coast in 1603.[9]
By 1670 the city had 6,000 tons of shipping (of which half was imported tobacco). Bristol was one of England's main slave-trading hubs and that by the early 18th century, this trade accounted for half of the city's entire income.[10] It steadily increased its market share so that at its peak, it claimed 70 percent of the slave voyages to America.[11] Financial institutions emerged to support it and while the slave trade has long been abolished, the banks have persisted. This is seen in the way the city enjoys one of the highest concentrations of finance jobs in the United Kingdom today.[10]
When the slave trade ceased, Bristol began transitioning into a manufacturing city during the age ofIndustrial Revolution. The rate, however, of growth was significantly lower than main industrial regions of Britain such as the Midlands and North.[12] In the nineteenth century, the city's economy sustained a gradual decline. At the dawn of the twentieth century, it was 10th among the league of British cities. The economy began to pick up after this period especially with a series of economic reforms such as the change in the port administration.[13] Industries began to thrive like those involved in the manufacture of cotton, tobacco, and chocolate as well as shipbuilding.
| Year | GVA (£million) | Growth (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 8,463 |  5.8% |
| 2003 | 8,812 | 4.1% |
| 2004 | 9,149 | 3.8% |
| 2005 | 9,599 | 4.9% |
| 2006 | 9,928 | 3.4% |
| 2007 | 10,759 | 8.4% |
| 2008 | 10,949 | 1.8% |
| 2009 | 11,110 | 1.5% |
| 2010 | 11,924 | 7.3% |
| 2011 | 11,550 |  3.1% |
| 2012 | 11,740 | 1.6% |
In 2012, Bristol'sgross value added (GVA) was £11.7bn, accounting for 21.8% of the GVA of the Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bristol/Bath area, 11.6% of the GVA ofSouth West England, and 0.8% of the GVA of the UK.[14] The economy of Bristol fared comparatively well during theGreat Recession of 2008–10 and continued to grow while most cities shrank, but in 2011 the economy contracted by 3.1%. Whilst Bristol's economy is in recovery, it remains 1.5% behind its peak output in 2010.
Compared with other major cities, Bristol enjoys a high GVA per head value, £27,148, the highest amongst the Core Cities and overall fifth highest in the United Kingdom after London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Glasgow.[14]
| Area | GVA (£million) | Annual GVA growth (%) | GVA (£ per head) | GVA per head growth (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol | 11,740 | 1.6% | 27,148 | 0.6% |
| Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bristol/Bath area | 53,746 | 1.9% | 22,663 | 1.0% |
| Core Cities average1 | 17,040 | 2.3% | 21,927 | 1.3% |
1excluding Bristol, included Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield
GVA per employee in Bristol was estimated to be £33,900 in 2012. Compared with other major cities, it is relatively low, behind all other major cities in the United Kingdom. Between 2007 and 2012, productivity in Bristol shrank 4%.
| Area | GVA per worker (£) | % change 2007–12 |
|---|---|---|
| Bristol | 33,900 | 4% |
| Core Cities average2 | 41,900 | 12.4% |
2excluding Bristol, included Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield
In 2000 Bristol's unemployment rate was 5.9%, compared to 4.8% for the south west, 5.8% for England, and 6.0% for the United Kingdom.[16] In 2005 this was down to 5.2%, compared to 3.6% for the South West and 4.8% for the United Kingdom.[17]
In 2000, employment in the formerCounty of Avon area was categorised into the following sectors:[18]
| Sector | Employees | % |
|---|---|---|
| Public services | 134,699 | 27.5 |
| Business & financial services | 95,604 | 19.5 |
| Wholesale & retail | 76,972 | 15.7 |
| Manufacturing | 64,538 | 13.2 |
| Transport & communications | 36,248 | 7.4 |
| Construction | 33,939 | 6.9 |
| Hotels & restaurants | 25,580 | 5.2 |
| Primary industry | 5,522 | 1.1 |
| Other | 16,198 | 3.3 |
Recent employment figures released by the Office for National Statistics Office stated that the South West region has posted a 79.4 percent employment rate, which is higher than the rest of the country, including major cities such as London and the South East.[3]
In the 20th century, Bristol's manufacturing activities expanded to include aircraft production atFilton, six miles (9.7 km) north of the city centre, by theBristol Aeroplane Company, and aero-engine manufacture byBristol Aero Engines (laterRolls-Royce) atPatchway. The aeroplane company became famous for theWorld War IBristol Fighter, andSecond World WarBlenheim andBeaufighter aircraft. In the 1950s it became one of the country's major manufacturers of civil aircraft, with the Bristol Freighter and Britannia and the huge Brabazon airliner.
In the 1960s Filton played a key role in the Anglo-FrenchConcorde supersonic airliner project. Concorde components were manufactured in British and French factories and shipped to the two final assembly plants by road, sea and air. The French assembly lines were inToulouse in southern France with the British lines inFilton. The very large three-bay hangar built for theBristol Brabazon was available for Concorde production.
The French manufactured the centre fuselage and centre wing and the British the nose, rear fuselage, fin and wingtips. The largest proportion of the British share of the work was the powerplant, the Rolls-Royce/Snecma 593. The engine's manufacture was split betweenBritish Aircraft Corporation, Rolls-Royce (Filton) andSNECMA at Villaroche near Paris.
The British Concorde prototypeG-BSST made its 22-minute maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford on 9 April 1969, the French prototypeF-WTSS had flown from Toulouse five weeks earlier. Most of the employees of BAC and Rolls-Royce, plus a huge crowd, watched from around the airfield. Fairford was chosen as the test airfield for Concorde because the runway at Filton was rejected for test flying, its length was inadequate and there were problems with the slope, and the first 1,000 feet (300 m) of the runway at its eastern (A38) end could not be used. However, from the end of 1977, all test flying on the second production aircraftG-BBDG was done from Filton, following the closure of the BAC Fairford test base.
In 2003 the two airlines using Concorde (British Airways andAir France) and the company supplying spares and support (Airbus) made the decision to cease flying the aircraft and to retire them to locations (mostly museums) around the world. For the location of all the aircraft seeConcorde.
On 26 November 2003, Concorde 216 (G-BOAF) made the final ever Concorde flight, returning to Filton airfield to be kept there permanently as the centrepiece of a projected air museum. This museum will include the existing Bristol Aero Collection which until May 2012 operated a public museum in a hangar at Kemble Airfield, forty miles (64 km) from Filton. This collection includes Bristol-built helicopters and missilesThe major aeronautical companies in Bristol now are BAE Systems, Airbus andRolls-Royce, both based at Filton.
Another important aeronautical company in the city isCameron Balloons, a manufacturer ofhot air balloons. Annually, in August, the city is host to theBristol International Balloon Fiesta, one of Europe's largest hot air balloon events.
The Bristol Port Company operates the surviving commercial docks of thePort of Bristol at Portbury and Avonmouth. Since privatisation in 1991 trade has increased to 12 million tonnes per annum, with a revenue exceeding £75 million,[19] making it the fifteenth largest port in the UK, tenth largest in England.[20] The main trades are forest products, cars, containers, bulk (coal, grain, animal feeds, aggregates), liquids (petroleum, aviation fuel, molasses, fruit juice), metals, and fresh produce. Plans are in place to massively increase capacity by building a new deepsea container terminal capable of handling ships up to 12,000TEU.[21][22]
Bristol has long been a majorBBC production centre, based atBroadcasting House, renowned for itsBBC Natural History Unit, and is a base ofITV Wales & West. Oscar-winningAardman Animations was established in 1972 in Bristol. In 2010,The Bottle Yard Studios was opened in partnership withBristol City Council, which in 2021 was credited with helping achieve about a tripling of drama production in Bristol since 2010.[23] One of the twoChannel 4 Creative Hubs opened in 2020 inFinzels Reach.[24]
As one of the largest ports in the UK, Bristol became very important in the tobacco trade. It is still the headquarters ofImperial Tobacco Group, the world's fourth largest international tobacco company. Imperial's group headquarters was consolidated into a new award-winning premises designed by architects AWW inspired environments and is located on the Winterstoke Road.
The Bristol Aeroplane Company diversified into car manufacturing in the 1940s, building luxury hand-built cars at their factory inFilton, under the nameBristol Cars. The car manufacturer became independent from the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1960. The company ceased manufacturing in March 2011 when it called in thereceivers.[25]
During the 19th century coal mining was important in parts of Bristol providing the energy for manufacturing industry. The coal field is part of a large area which stretched from theSomerset coalfield into Gloucestershire. All pits have now closed.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
