--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/ons-response-to-are-uk-regional-productivity-disparities-really-narrowing/" title: "ONS Response to ‘Are UK Regional Productivity Disparities Really Narrowing?’" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T08:15:29+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-17T10:07:47+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Spring 2025" ipm_keyword: - "convergence" - "GVA" - "London" - "methodology" - "ONS" - "Prothero" - "regional productivity" - "response" - "UK" ipm_research_theme: - "Productivity trends and comparisons" ipm_country_focus: - "United Kingdom" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # ONS Response to ‘Are UK Regional Productivity Disparities Really Narrowing?’ Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/ons-response-to-are-uk-regional-productivity-disparities-really-narrowing/ # ONS Response to ‘Are UK Regional Productivity Disparities Really Narrowing?’ [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-48-4-Prothero.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Prothero, Richard. 2025. “ONS Response to ‘Are UK Regional Productivity Disparities Really Narrowing?’.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 48 (Spring 2025): 85–89. https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/ons-response-to-are-uk-regional-productivity-disparities-really-narrowing/ ## Author: - Richard Prothero Office for National Statistics (ONS) ## IPM Issue 48 Spring 2025 pp. 85–89 ## Related IPM articles [De-industrialization and the Great Productivity Slowdown: What Comes Next? 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An Investigation into Recent Productivity Data Revisions Fokke Reitze Gouma, Philip McCann, Raquel Ortega-Argilés Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 63–84](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/are-uk-regional-productivity-disparities-really-narrowing-an-investigation-into-recent-productivity-data-revisions/) [Online Supplementary Material: UK Regional Productivity Data Fokke Reitze Gouma, Philip McCann, Raquel Ortega-Argilés Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 15–19](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/online-supplementary-material-uk-regional-productivity-data/) [The UK Productivity Slowdown: A Review of Timing, Magnitude, and Drivers Josh Martin Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 1–34](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/the-uk-productivity-slowdown-a-review-of-timing-magnitude-and-drivers/) [Appendix: UK Productivity Growth Rates Across Data Vintages and Studies Josh Martin Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 65–73](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/appendix-uk-productivity-growth-rates-across-data-vintages-and-studies/) [Could Domestic Industrial Policies, Even With Global Fragmentation, Revive Productivity? Catherine Mann Fall 2024 | IPM Issue 47 | pp. 3–19](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-47/could-domestic-industrial-policies-even-with-global-fragmentation-revive-productivity/) [Productivity and Industrial Policy by Design: The UK Experience Diane Coyle, Ayantola Alayande Fall 2024 | IPM Issue 47 | pp. 20–38](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-47/productivity-and-industrial-policy-by-design-the-uk-experience/) [IPM Issue 47 Editors’ Overview Andrew Sharpe, Bart van Ark Fall 2024 | IPM Issue 47 | pp. 1–2](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-47/) [Are Intangibles Running out of Steam? Bart van Ark, Klaas de Vries, Abdul Erumban Spring 2024 | IPM Issue 46 | pp. 38–59](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-46/are-intangibles-running-out-of-steam/) ## Abstract ## Résumé EN FR Copy link Email LinkedIn Understanding the relative convergence or divergence pathways of regional productivity in the United Kingdom is an important topic for regional economic policy. As such, ONS welcomes that the authors have examined this topic based on our published regional and sub-regional productivity data and appreciate the opportunity to comment on the article. The article notes the apparent shift away from divergence in productivity between UK ITL1 regions towards convergence within the most recent data (particularly for the period 2019-2022). The authors are clearly sceptical of this result and present a number of arguments concerning the data that they see as potentially giving rise for caution on this result. They then conclude that it will be necessary to observe a few more years of data before we are able to draw strong conclusions on the issue. It is worth noting that the methods used by ONS to produce regional and sub-regional productivity data are based on a top-down approach from national accounts data down to regions. As such, revisions to the currently published data for 2019-2022 remain a possibility when the data is updated in future annual Regional and Sub-regional Productivity publications. Perhaps most importantly, those updates will include data for more recent years that will be less impacted by the economic effects of the covid period. As such, we agree with the author’s overall conclusion that it would be wise to wait until we have some further years of data available before reaching a definitive viewpoint on the issue of UK regional productivity convergence and divergence. Comprendre les trajectoires relatives de convergence ou de divergence de la productivité régionale au Royaume-Uni est un sujet important pour la politique économique régionale. À ce titre, l’ONS se félicite que les auteurs aient examiné ce sujet sur la base de nos données publiées sur la productivité régionale et sous-régionale et apprécie l’opportunité de commenter l’article. L’article note le changement apparent de la divergence de la productivité entre les régions ITL1 du Royaume-Uni vers la convergence dans les données les plus récentes (notamment pour la période 2019-2022), et l’ONS répond aux préoccupations méthodologiques soulevées par les auteurs. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-48-4-Prothero.pdf)