Introduction

Cecilia Campos, Giovanni Mangiarotti, Sebnem Oguz, Richard Prothero

This edition of the economic review is the fifth following the introduction of economic statistics theme days in January 2017. Each economic review in this new format will have an overarching analytical theme and follow a quarterly publication timetable. The theme of this edition is the regional economy with analysis covering regional gross value added (GVA) growth in the UK, regional firm-level productivity analysis for the non-financial business economy, and regional and sub-regional productivity comparisons for the UK and selected EU countries.

The Authors would like to thank the following colleagues and acknowledge their contribution made to these articles:

Lewis Compton, Guy Manning, Giovanni Mangiarotti, Aaron Walton, Leanna Wollacott, ONS Annual Business Survey team