Content Type
Blog Posts
The impact of motherhood on employment and earnings in London
Posted 7 months ago
Gender inequalities in the UK and London labour markets are large. Recent data show that women living in London are around 10 percentage points less likely to be in work than men; and earn on average 19% less per hour than men.[1] Economists highlight the role of children in gender inequality, with international studies finding evidence for a “motherhood penalty”...
London's Economy Today editorial - October 2025
Posted 7 months ago
UK inflation remains steady in September The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published data on September’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation this month. This showed that CPI inflation remained unchanged at 3.8% in the 12 months to September 2025; it has remained at this level since July (Figure 1). This was lower than anticipated by most surveyed economists who had...
Improving the availability of fertility rate data
Posted 8 months ago
Summary Earlier this month, the London Assembly’s Economy, Culture and Skills Committee met to discuss the falling birth rates in London. The open investigation comes after the publication of several newspaper articles and research papers in the past few months highlighting the effects of falling birth rates in London and its effects on the number of school places. Low fertility...
A snapshot of tourist accommodation in London
Posted 8 months ago
London is the world’s third-most visited city, attracting roughly 21 million international visits in 2024 (more than half of all international visits into the UK), generating £17 billion in spending. Given the scale of these numbers, it is important for policymakers to understand if the supply of visitor accommodation that houses tourists (hotels, bnbs, Airbnb listings etc.) adequately meets demand....
London's Economy Today editorial - September 2025
Posted 8 months ago
UK sees no growth in July Data published this month by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the UK economy didn’t grow in July (Figure 1). This followed growth of 0.4% in June although this lack of growth was what had been expected by surveyed economists. Figure 1: Contributions to monthly UK GDP growth, July 2024 to July...
Potential approaches to addressing London’s (and the UK’s) investment, productivity and growth challenges
Posted 9 months ago
While it is widely acknowledged that the UK’s poor investment record is undermining both productivity and sustainable growth, it is important that any investment is targeted at specific sectors and activities as opposed to being broadly scattered. In a rapidly-evolving economic context that includes the emergence of ‘new economy’ sectors and decarbonisation, such a judicious approach to investment promotion is...
London's Economy Today editorial - August 2025
Posted 9 months ago
UK GDP growth beats expectations in second quarter Data published this month by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the UK economy continued to grow in the second quarter of 2025. Output increased by 0.3% in Q1 2025 after growing by 0.7% in Q1 2025 (Figure 1). This rate of growth was higher than the average anticipated from...
GLA 2024-based population projections - research outputs
Posted 10 months ago
Summary The GLA’s 2024-based demographic projections will be a key part of the evidence base for the next London Plan. Final projections are expected to be published at the beginning of 2026, but the GLA has published an initial set of trend-based population projections – labelled ‘research outputs’ – to give users an early indication of the draft results and...
ONS 2022-based Subnational Projections
Posted 10 months ago
Summary On 24 June, ONS published their 2022-based subnational population projections (SNPP). Whilst acknowledging that projecting future population is inherently difficult, we think there are problems with these projections and can’t generally recommend their use in London. In particular, they project future populations at local authority level that are out of line with past trends and repeat a pattern of...
London's Economy Today editorial - July 2025
Posted 10 months ago
UK’s GDP contracts for a second month in a row in May The latest monthly UK GDP data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed an unexpected contraction of 0.1% in May 2025 (Figure 1). This was the second monthly decline in a row following a 0.3% drop in April and was counter to the expectations of polled economists...