East Midlands - Defined by Statistics

[davieG]

Merc

Life in the East Midlands has been mapped out using the latest statistics, writes David Maclean. The Government's Office for National Statistics compiled the most recent facts and figures to paint a picture of what it is like to live in the region.

It shows while life expectancy is in line with the national average, females born in Blaby can expect to live on average four years longer than those born in Leicester.

Some violent crime rates in Leicester are the highest in the region, with the equivalent of 3,140 violent crimes against the person for every 100,000 residents in the city.

This compares to 850 in Rutland, the lowest in the East Midlands.

The report also shows Leicester is the most densely populated part of the region with 4,200 people living in every square kilometre, compared to just 80 in West Lindsey in Lincolnshire.

Experimental estimates show 88 per cent of residents in the East Midlands classed themselves as white British in 2007 – more than the English average of 84 per cent.

However, Leicester's figure was far lower at 58 per cent.

Lifestyle

The East Midlands has one of the lowest proportions of 16-year-olds staying in education in the country.

The proportion of 16-year-olds in post-compulsory education and government-supported training in 2008-09 was 86 per cent.

Only Yorkshire and the Humber were lower.

*Average gross weekly household income in 2008-09 in the East Midlands was £598, compared with the UK average of £703, one of the lowest three of the English regions.

*The region has one of the highest proportions of households that include a married or co-habiting couple without children, at 31 per cent in 2009.

*Life expectancy at birth for both male and female residents in the East Midlands in 2007-09 was similar to the UK average, at 78 and 82 years respectively.

Females born in Blaby and males born in Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire, could expect to live longer at 84.2 and 80.5 years respectively than the regional average.

Females born in Leicester and males born in Corby could expect shorter lives at 80.0 and 74.0 years respectively.

*The average house price in the region last year was £135,000 compared with the England figure of £170,000.

The household crime rate of 2,900 incidents per 10,000 households in 2009-10 was significantly higher than the England average of 2,600 incidents.

In general, the East Midlands had recorded crime rates similar to the English average.

For example, 1,600 offences of violence against the person for every 100,000 residents in 2009-10 were recorded for both the East Midlands and England.

However, the regional average masks large variation.

For example, the rates of violence ranged from 850 per 100,000 residents in Rutland to 3,140 per 100,000 residents in Leicester.

Economy

The region still relies on manufacturing more than any other industry, more so than any other part of the UK.

Financial and real estate sectors, as well as hotels, retail and transport are the next-biggest contributors to the economy.

*Total disposable household income for residents is an average of £13,600, which ranks the region in the top-half of the country.

*Productivity of the region's workers is the fourth-highest of English regions – a position which has remained unchanged since 2003.

Some 73 per cent of working-age people are employed, slightly higher than the average elsewhere in the UK.

An above-average proportion of residents are employed in routine occupations requiring none or few qualifications.

By contrast, occupations which require the highest qualifications were under-represented, at 39 per cent of all employed residents compared with 43 per cent in the UK.

*The population of the East Midlands has boomed over recent years, increasing faster than the rest of Britain since 2003.

However, while thriving populations are often key to a booming economy, nearly a fifth of those are over the state pension age, slightly higher than the rest of the country.

*Unemployment is lower than the national average at 7.2 per cent, and fewer children in the region live in workless households than the UK average.

Population

The East Midlands had one of the fastest growing populations between 2001 and 2009. This growth is set to continue, alongside the prospect of a grey generation of citizens who are in their 80s and 90s.

The proportion of people in the over-65s age group is expected to grow much faster than the total population.

Projections based on the 2008 population estimates show that by 2028 nearly 23 per cent of residents will be aged 65 and over.

Population was 4.5 million last year, making up just under a tenth of England's population. It is predicted the figure will be 5.2 million by 2028.

*There are an average of 290 residents living in every square kilometre of land, making us one of the most sparsely populated English regions.

It varied from fewer than 80 residents per square kilometre in West Lindsey in Lincolnshire, to 4,200 in Leicester.

The population of the East Midlands increased at the second fastest rate of any English region between 2001 and 2009.

*Fewer people move to the East Midlands than other regions in England.

*About 84 per cent of people in Britain class themselves as white British. The figure is 88 per cent in the East Midlands, with 58 per cent of Leicester citizens identifying themselves as that.

Environment

The East Midlands has among the highest rates of housing growth over the past decade and has also seen the greatest increase in recycling of waste over the past four years.

Each year from 2003 to 2005, an average of 541 hectares of land changed to residential use in the region.

*In 2007, more than 70 per cent of the region's population were estimated to be living in urban areas with a population of over 10,000 and just over 16 per cent were resident in smaller towns.

About 13 per cent of the population were resident in villages, hamlets and isolated dwellings.

*The recycling rate in the East Midlands is the fastest growing of any region, rising from 19 per cent in 2003-04 to 42 per cent in 2007-08, one of the two highest of the English regions.

*Between 1998 and 2008, the East Midlands had an increase in traffic on major roads of nearly 11 per cent compared with an average increase of about nine per cent in England.

The region had an estimated 92,000 vehicles per day using its motorways in 2008.

[Bellend Sebastian]

I misread that and thought it said there were 3140 crimes against the person.

I was thinking Leicester can be a bit rough but it's not that bad. You'd never get anything done

[Trav Le Bleu]

Surely the highest violent crimes in the region are those commited in the Peak District?