Cardiff
Economic profile. Data last updated 2026-03-28.
Cardiff supports 226,320 workplace jobs with median earnings broadly in line with the England average. Productivity (GVA per job) is ranked 32nd of 391 local authorities.
Source: ONS, Nomis, HM Land Registry, 2024-2025·Last updated March 2026
Employment & Labour Market
Monthly claimant count rate over the past 3 years.
Source: Claimant Count via Nomis, BRES, 2020-2026·Last updated March 2026
Industry Structure
Location quotients and shift-share analysis for Cardiff's economy.
The most specialised sectors are Public administration & defence (LQ 2.54) and Electricity, gas & air conditioning (LQ 2.44). Financial & insurance shows the strongest local competitive advantage. Administrative & support services underperforms its national sectoral trend.
Source: BRES via Nomis, 2020-2024·Last updated March 2026
Economic Output
Estimated Gross Value Added for Cardiff, derived from sector employment and national productivity ratios.
Estimates based on national GVA-per-job ratios applied to local sector employment (BRES). Indicative only. See Methodology for details.
Earnings & Income
Gross annual earnings distribution, 2025.
Median annual earnings of £32,756 are in line with the England median of £33,080. The 90/10 earnings ratio is 5.4x (England: 6.2x), indicating relatively high wage inequality.
Source: ASHE via Nomis, 2025·Last updated March 2026
Skills & Qualifications
Census 2021 highest qualification and occupation data.
Source: Census 2021, ONS
Demographics
Census 2021 population by age band.
The population is 362,310 with 68.4% of working age. The dependency ratio is 46.3%.
Source: Census 2021, ONS·Last updated 2021
Commuting & Travel to Work
Census 2021 method of travel to work for Cardiff residents.
36.1% of residents work from home. The most common commute method is driving a car or van (40.1%).
Source: Census 2021 TS061, ONS·Last updated 2021
Business Environment
Active enterprises in Cardiff from the UK Business Counts dataset.
11,825 active enterprises operate in this area. The business base has declined by 5.0% over three years. 74.7% of enterprises have fewer than 5 employees.
Source: UK Business Counts via Nomis, 2024·Last updated March 2026
Housing & Property Market
Estimated house prices for Cardiff vs England, 2015-2025.
The median house price of £272,802 is below the England median of £290,000. The price-to-earnings ratio is 8.3x. Prices have risen 1.8% over the past year.
Source: HM Land Registry, Census 2021, 2015-2025·Last updated March 2026
Place & Deprivation
Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019. Cardiff is ranked 11 out of 22 local authorities (1 = most deprived).
Ranked 11th of 22 local authorities on the IMD (1 = most deprived). The most challenging domain is Physical Environment (ranked 1st), while Access to Services ranks comparatively better (20th).
Source: Welsh Government WIMD, 2019·Last updated 2019
Impact Calculator
Estimate the economic impact of investment or job creation in Cardiff using regional input-output multipliers.
Source: Derived from ONS Supply-Use Tables, regionalized via SLQ, 2019·Last updated March 2026