This factsheet compares Wakefield to the five most similar European cities in size and industrial structure. These are: Thessaloniki (Greece), Kaunas (Lithuania), Las Palmas (Spain), Szczecin (Poland), Mulhouse (France).
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 Wakefield to its European counterparts on variables such as skills, employment and productivity.
City group characteristics
The cities in this group are of mid size and have a large 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
Wakefield performs well in comparison to its group, ranking in the top half on most indicators. It does however have a larger proportion of lower skilled people than other cities in this group.