This factsheet compares Newcastle to the five most similar European cities in size and industrial structure. These are: Bordeaux (France), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Nantes (France), Nice (France), Bilbao (Spain).

Comparing cities in this way helps us to understand more about how well UK cities are competing on an international scale because it groups cities with similar industrial structures, rather than on their resulting economic performance. The factsheet also compares the relative strengths and weaknesses of Newcastle to its European counterparts on variables such as skills, employment and productivity.

City group characteristics

Cities in this group are large with a fairly large public services and private services sector.

Population

Industrial structure

Key

• Manufacturing, mining and utilities 2011
• Business services 2011
• Public services 2011
• Other private services 2011
• Other sectors 2011

Overall economic performance

Newcastle performs well on jobs and GVA but tends to rank in the bottom half of its table on other indicators.