Tower Hamlets
Economic profile. Data last updated 2026-03-28.
Tower Hamlets supports 344,600 workplace jobs with median earnings 37% above the England average. The claimant rate (6.7%) is higher than the England average of 4.1%. Productivity (GVA per job) is ranked 4th 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 Tower Hamlets's economy.
The most specialised sectors are Financial & insurance (LQ 6.24) and Information & communication (LQ 2.61). Information & communication shows the strongest local competitive advantage. Human health & social work underperforms its national sectoral trend.
Source: BRES via Nomis, 2020-2024·Last updated March 2026
Economic Output
Estimated Gross Value Added for Tower Hamlets, 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 £45,183 are significantly above the England median of £33,080.
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 310,306 with 76.9% of working age. The dependency ratio is 30% (below average, indicating a predominantly working-age population).
Source: Census 2021, ONS·Last updated 2021
Commuting & Travel to Work
Census 2021 method of travel to work for Tower Hamlets residents.
50.3% of residents work from home (well above the national average). The most common commute method is underground, metro, light rail, tram (13.8%).
Source: Census 2021 TS061, ONS·Last updated 2021
Business Environment
Active enterprises in Tower Hamlets from the UK Business Counts dataset.
17,225 active enterprises operate in this area. The business base has grown by 5.6% over three years. 77.9% 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 Tower Hamlets vs England, 2015-2025.
The median house price of £376,297 is significantly above 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. Tower Hamlets is ranked 27 out of 317 local authorities (1 = most deprived).
Ranked 27th of 317 local authorities on the IMD (1 = most deprived). The most challenging domain is Income (ranked 10th), while Education, Skills & Training ranks comparatively better (176th).
Source: MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation, 2019·Last updated 2019
Impact Calculator
Estimate the economic impact of investment or job creation in Tower Hamlets using regional input-output multipliers.
Source: Derived from ONS Supply-Use Tables, regionalized via SLQ, 2019·Last updated March 2026