This factsheet compares Oxford to the five most similar European cities in size and industrial structure. These are: Nijmegen (Netherlands), Groningen (Netherlands), Würzburg (Germany), Poitiers (France), Uppsala (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 Oxford to its European counterparts on variables such as skills, employment and productivity.

City group characteristics

Oxford is a small city characterised by its large public service sector – which is the largest across all the European cities analysed.

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

Oxford performs well in its group particularly on patents and employment, and has a high proportion of high skilled people. It also has a fairly high proportion of low skilled people in the group, whereas the other cities tend to have a higher proportion of medium skilled people.