North Wales sectors

Below is a snapshot of North Wales’ labour market intelligence, for a more indepth look visit North Wales Regional Skills Partnership’s Data Observatory for the latest data relating to economy, education, skills, training and the workforce for North Wales.

The below snapshot is a combination of information from the North Wales Skills and Employment Plan 2023-2025, North Wales Labour Market Review 2024, and the Data Observatory.

The population of North Wales is estimated to be 691k in 2023, 21.9% of the Welsh population.

Census data from 2021 puts the population of North Wales at 686,905, a reduction of 0.15% on the 2011 Census.

In 2022, Wales contributed approximately £74.5 billion to the UK economy, a 9.6% increase since 2019. North Wales generated £16 billion of this total, showing a growth of 10.5% over the same period. However, both Wales and North Wales grew at a slower rate than the UK overall, which saw a 12.8% increase.

When it comes to productivity, North Wales saw a 10.2% rise in GVA per hour worked since 2019, surpassing Wales’ growth of 6.8% and exceeding the UK’s increase of 8.5%. In terms of GVA per head, North Wales was slightly higher than the Welsh average in 2022 (£24,427 vs. £23,804), but both remain below the UK average of £32,996.

North Wales is predominately made up of micro and small businesses, with micro businesses accounting for 84% and small businesses accounting for 14% of all businesses in North Wales. This is similar for the whole of Wales with micro and small businesses also comprising 98.2% of all businesses in Wales.

From 2010 to 2013, the number of micro businesses in North Wales grew by 30%, similar to the increase across the whole of Wales where the number of micro businesses grew by 35% across the same period.

The majority of jobs in North Wales are located in micro and small enterprises (83.6% and 13.8%, respectively), which corresponds to Wales figures (83.3% and 13.7%). This is a significantly higher proportion than across the UK, where small and micro enterprises account only for 48% of employment jobs.

In sectors such as advanced manufacturing, construction, creative digital, and health and social care, key skills reflect a strong focus on operational efficiency, technical expertise, and specialised roles. Other industries like energy and the environment, finance, food and farming, and tourism emphasise a blend of logistical management, safety practices, and customer service.

While specialised skills are critical to each sector, there are common competencies highly valued across all industries in North Wales.

Most demanded common skills across sectors:

• Management
• Communication
• Customer Service
• English & Welsh Language

Future Skills Needs | Digital Skills:

• Big data processing
• Coding
• IT systems and network architecture
• Database building and management
• Software development
• Animation and multimedia production
• Quantitative data analysis
• Digital health technologies
• Engineering and manufacturing methods

Future Skills Needs | Net Zero Skills:

The types of skills that will be required to meet net zero include:

• Construction, including retrofit assessment, plumbing and heating, insulation, solar and electrical installation e.g. EV charging points.
• Environment, including forestry, sustainable farming, conservation, horticulture, and flood management.
• Engineering, including renewable energy, electricity grid infrastructure, battery technology, automotive design, water infrastructure and processing, materials development, and transportation upgrades.
• Advanced manufacturing, including automotive, battery development, smart systems production, advanced materials, renewable energy equipment.

Estimated 80% of working age population reside within
the cross-border area.

• 28,600 people travel from North Wales to England.
• 32,400 people travel from England to North Wales.

194,293 Welsh speakers in the region (2021) down by 5% since 2011.

The highest percentages of Welsh speakers can be found in Gwynedd (64.3%) and the Isle of Anglesey (55.8%)

The Welsh language is a valuable skill and the Welsh Government has created the ‘Cymraeg 2050’ strategy that includes two main targets:

• The number of Welsh speakers to reach one million by 2050.
• The percentage of the population that speak Welsh daily and can speak more than just a few words of Welsh, to increase from 10% (in 2013 to 2015) to 20% by 2050.

The total number of individuals of working age (16-64) in employment in North Wales increased by 2.7 percentage points from 74.3% in 2020 to 77% in 2023, greater than the change in the whole of Wales for the same period (1.4%). For the UK, employment for those of working age rose by 0.6%.

The median average annual earnings for residents in North Wales was £31,938 in 202311.

The minimum annual earnings for residents across North Wales are in Denbighshire (£29,641) and the maximum annual earnings are in Flintshire (£33,444) in 2023.

The annual earnings for the whole of Wales stood at £32,817, below the UK at £34,963. 12 Since 2017, median annual earnings for residents increased by 25.3% in North Wales, marginally above that of Wales (24.6%) and substantially above the UK (21.6%).

In 2023, 42.2% of people aged 16-64 in North Wales held qualifications at Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) level 4 or above, showing steady growth since 2017. This is slightly below the Welsh average of 43.2% and the UK figure of 47.1%. Around 21% in North Wales hold RQF level 3 qualifications, similar to the rest of Wales and the UK.

The percentage of individuals with only RQF level 1 qualifications has dropped by 6.8 points since 2017, reflecting improved skills levels. However, 8.7% of people in North Wales still hold no formal qualifications, slightly above the UK average of 6.6%