This factsheet compares Slough to the five most similar European cities in size and industrial structure. These are: Europ’ Essonne (Massy) (France), Almere (Netherlands), A Coruña (Spain), Terrassa (Spain), Salerno (Italy)

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 Slough to its European counterparts on variables such as skills, employment and productivity.

City group characteristics

Slough is a small city with a large business services and private services sector, with a relatively small public 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

Slough performs well against its group across many indicators including GVA per worker (productivity), patents and jobs. It ranks lower on skills and business stock.