ONS figures reveal stark regional gap in disposable household income across UK
Westminster and City of London had the highest gross disposable household income per head in 2023 at £79,555, nearly five times the level recorded in Leicester
New data from the Office for National Statistics shows a wide and persistent gap in gross disposable household income (GDHI) across the United Kingdom, with residents of Westminster and the City of London having almost five times the amount available to spend or save as those in the lowest local authority.
In 2023 the GDHI per head in Westminster and the City of London was £79,555, more than three times the UK average of £24,836 and nearly five times the £16,067 recorded for Leicester. GDHI measures the money households have left for spending or saving after taxes have been paid and benefits received.
The ONS figures show that the 10 local areas with the highest GDHI per head in 2023 were concentrated in London and the South East, while the 10 areas with the lowest GDHI per head were all in the Midlands or the North of England. Within London the variation is marked: Westminster and the City of London stood at £79,555, compared with £24,410 per head in Barking and Dagenham and Havering.
Total GDHI in the UK in 2023 was nearly £1.7 trillion. England accounted for 86.5 percent of that total, Scotland 7.4 percent, Wales 3.8 percent and Northern Ireland 2.3 percent. When adjusted for population, only England had a GDHI per head above the UK average.
Regionally, four areas recorded GDHI per head above the national average: London, the South East, the East of England and the South West. London had the highest GDHI per head at £35,361; the North East had the lowest at £19,977. Wales showed relatively little internal variation, with Monmouthshire and Newport at the top within the nation at £21,733 and Neath Port Talbot at the bottom at £18,827.
Between 2022 and 2023 total GDHI in the UK rose by 9.5 percent. England’s growth rate slightly outpaced the UK figure at 9.6 percent; Wales recorded the smallest increase at 7.9 percent. At local-authority level, Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham posted the largest increases in total GDHI between 2022 and 2023, each rising by 12.9 percent. The smallest local increases were in the Isle of Anglesey, up 6.1 percent, and Tower Hamlets, up 6.6 percent.
Analysts and policymakers have used GDHI as a key indicator of household economic capacity because it strips out taxes and transfers to show what households actually have available to consume or save. The ONS release underscores long-standing geographic disparities in income and living standards across the UK, with the highest concentrations of disposable income clustered in London and the South East and lower levels across many parts of the Midlands and the North.
The ONS dataset provides a basis for local and national comparisons of household economic resilience and can inform decisions on public services, local investment and regional economic policy. The figures published for 2023 will be used alongside other economic indicators to assess how household finances have evolved following the pandemic period and through changes in inflation and labour markets.