Lichfield forecast to be joint fourth-fastest growing UK location

A report from EY has revealed that Lichfield is set to record the West Midlands’ fastest annual improvement in economic performance between 2024 and 2026.

In EY’s latest Regional Economic Forecast, when measured by Gross Value Added (GVA), Lichfield’s economy is set to be the UK’s joint fourth-fastest growing location between 2024-26, with annual average growth of 2.4%, driven by strong retail and real estate growth.

Birmingham, Wolverhampton and the West Midlands as a whole are forecast to match average UK growth at 2.1%, whilst Dudley is expected to grow the slowest in the region at 1.8%.

Lichfield is also placed in the top ten UK locations for jobs growth as it is forecast to grow by 1.5% which is greater than the UK average of 1.3%.

The West Midlands region is expected to see jobs grow slightly slower than the UK average at 1.1%, with Sandwell forecast to see the region’s slowest growth in jobs at 0.8%.

The region’s 2024-26 GVA performance would represent a strong economic bounce back from 2023 – the region’s GVA is expected to contract 0.8% this year, compared to an overall UK GVA contraction of 0.6%.

Simon O’Neill, managing partner at EY in the Midlands, said: “Sectors continue to play a key role in forecast performance at a city and town level. The pandemic put pressures on city centres or supply chain-dependent manufacturing areas, such as the Black Country, and the rising cost of living is likely to have the biggest impact in places that are dependent on the local High Streets or public sector jobs, due to the squeeze on consumer spending and wages.

“Retail and the manufacturing sector both make up important parts of the West Midlands economy, which is reflected in the region’s recent economic experience and forecast 2023 performance. But, beyond this year, the region has significant opportunities.

“Our high-value sectors, like Advanced Manufacturing, Professional Services, HealthTech and Medtech and Information Communications will be enormously important for both regional and UK growth – and represent a real chance to level up the UK economy. The transition to Net Zero, for example, represents a generational opportunity to rebuild the manufacturing base, upskilling workers across the value chain.”

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