The latest Regional Index of Sustainable Economic Wellbeing (R-ISEW) was published in November 2010.
The R-ISEW is a measure of regional well-being. Gross Value Added (GVA) data measures the total value of goods and services produced within an economy – this includes some ‘negative’ goods and services, such as pollution abatement, and excludes some positive contributions to the economy which are not bought and sold, such as work in the home and volunteering. The R-ISEW is an attempt to monetise some of these factors to give a more rounded picture of well-being in the economy.
The South West performs strongly on this measure due to relatively low energy consumption, low levels of social problems and minimal long-term environmental repercussions of industry. However, the South West has the highest level of family breakdown amongst the regions, a negative driver of the overall SW figure.
2010 Report
The 2010 R-ISEW shows that the South West dropped into second position behind London. This is the result of a long period of a rising ISEW in London and a (slightly) shorter period of levelling off in the South West ISEW.
