The UK’s worst-hit areas for living standards have been revealed as the government is urged to do more to boost growth across every region.
Sir Keir Starmer’s renewed focus on the cost of living in the new year is “understandable”, research group Centre for Cities says, but must be underpinned by stronger economic growth.
Britain’s cost of living crisis continues to be unmanageable for millions, with a recent report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation finding that 14.2 million people continue to live in poverty. Of these, a record 6.8 million are in the deepest form of deprivation.
Looking at figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Centre for Cities identified the UK city facing the highest income deprivation as Blackburn, followed by Hull, Birmingham and Bradford.
These are the places with the highest share of their neighbourhoods being placed in the 20 most deprived by ONS statistics.
The cities with the least were Aldershot, Cambridge, Reading and Exeter.
In the decade to 2025, average incomes increased by an average of 8 per cent, according to ONS data. Seeing the highest rise in weekly cash terms was Cambridge, at an extra £123.22 on average. Followed by Warrington (£119.07), Bristol (£111.01) and Stoke (£100.71).
Taking the biggest loss in real-terms income growth was Crawley, at £59.85 lower on average. This was followed by Derby (−£56.92), Gloucester (−£55.41), and Exeter (−£53.32).
Andrew Carter, chief executive of Centre for Cities, said: “It is understandable that the government has shifted its emphasis onto the cost of living in recent weeks, but ultimately it is stronger economic growth that raises household incomes. Without growth, cost of living fixes can only ever be temporary.
“Nationally, the last decade has delivered the same amount of growth in living standards as we typically experienced in a single year prior to 2008.
He added: “As the prime minister has said, 2026 needs to be the year that ‘politics shows it can help again’. The test, at the end of this year, will be whether we are seeing more jobs, higher wages, and stronger local growth in more places across the country.”
