How is the Newport economy performing, and what are the key policy issues facing the city?
This factsheet compares Newport to the five most similar European cities in size and industrial structure. These are: Olsztyn (Poland), Le Havre (France), Troyes (Frances), Cergy-Pontoise (France), Jönköping (Sweden).
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 Newport to its European counterparts on variables such as skills, employment and productivity.
This group is made up of small cities and has a slightly larger public sector alongside a relatively large private services sector.
Newport ranks in the middle of its group on many indicators. It also has the highest number of jobs in the group.