Insights

OpenEconomy's quarterly narrative on the Welsh economy and articles that look closely at one question at a time, each signed off by a named author.

• Halving the gap: what the productivity mission asks of Wales 2026-10-25

  Welsh output per hour has stayed between 81.9% and 87.1% of the UK's since 1998. Halving the gap in ten years needs growth about 0.9% a year faster than the UK's, close to twice the best decade on record. The evidence points to problems inside industries, low investment and R&D, skills, health, connections and limited powers, which would all need to move at once.