Report reveals lack of investment in North of England compared with rest of the world

The North of England receives one of the lowest levels of investment among advanced economies, a think tank has said.

If the region were a country, Greece would be the only OECD nation to see less public and private investment, according to the IPPR Norths State of the North report.

The researchers found that the UK as a whole ranks 35 among the 38 OECD countries in terms of receiving the least investment.

States including Slovakia, Poland and Hungary all enjoy more investment than the UK.

Were the OECD average applied to the UK for 2017-2020, some 397 billion more would have been invested.

The UK and the North are being held back by vast inequalities and systematic underinvestment in research and development, social infrastructure and transport, IPPR North said.

The report highlights the extent of regional disparities, including that productivity is around 7 lower per hour worked in the North than the England average, and hourly pay is 1.60 lower than in the rest of England.