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The economy of Wales is closely linked with the rest of the United Kingdom and the wider European Economic Area. In 2012, according to ONS provisional data, headline gross value added (GVA) in Wales was £47.3 billion, making the Welsh economy the tenth largest of the UK's twelve regions (counting Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland alongside the nine English Government Office Regions) ahead of only Northern Ireland and the North East of England.〔(Regional Gross Value Added (GVA), by UK country (component, UK regions) )〕 The modern Welsh economy is dominated by the service sector. In 2000, services contributed 66% to GVA, the manufacturing sector contributed 32%, while agriculture, forestry and fishing together contributed 1.5%.〔 As in the rest of the United Kingdom, the currency used in Wales is the pound sterling, represented by the symbol ''£''. The Bank of England is the central bank, responsible for issuing currency, and retains responsibility for monetary policy and is the central bank of the UK. The Royal Mint, which issues the coinage circulated over the whole of the UK, has been based at a single site in Llantrisant, south Wales since 1980, having progressively transferred operations from their Tower Hill, London site from 1968. Economic output per head has been lower in Wales than in most other parts of the UK (and most other parts of Western Europe) for a very long time – in 2002 it stood at 90% of the EU25 average and around 80% of the UK average. However, care is needed in interpreting these data, since regional GDP/GVA per head data in the UK does not take account of regional differences in the cost of living, which in Wales is estimated to be 93–94% of the UK average. Thus the gap in living standards between Wales and more prosperous parts of the UK is not as pronounced.〔(Wales A Vibrant Economy )〕 As the capital city of Wales, Cardiff is the main engine of growth in the Welsh economy and the significant service centre and economic driver for the wider south Wales economy. The city and the adjoining Vale of Glamorgan contribute a disproportionately high share of economic output in Wales.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Cardiff Futures Forum )〕 Cardiff is a centre for white-collar professions.〔(WalesOnline | Fears over decline of manufacturing )〕 The city relies principally on the retail, finance, media and tourism sectors and has been undergoing major regeneration since the late 20th century, particularly in Cardiff city centre and Cardiff Bay. == Economic history == Until the mid 18th century, economic development in Wales was restricted by its peripheral location, predominantly upland topography, poor communications and sparse population.〔Falkus, M. and Gillingham, J., eds (1987) Historical Atlas of Britain. London: Kingfisher.〕 Commerce was most advanced in the small coastal ports that had regular commerce with Bristol or Liverpool; the other major sources of external trading contact were the drovers, who drove cattle from Mid Wales along Drovers roads for sale and slaughter in the English Midlands and London's Smithfield Market from the 14th century onwards. The drovers were instrumental in establishing the first banks in Wales, such as ''Banc Y Ddafad Ddu'' ("Black Sheep Bank") in Aberystwyth.〔 Industrial development from the mid 18th century was stimulated by the potential of Wales' rich mineral deposits, the arrival of English entrepreneurs and financiers and advances in technology. The development of iron smelting by coke made the South Wales Valleys a natural industrial location during the Industrial Revolution and, from the mid 18th century, increased demand for metals and coal was generated first by war and later by the advent of steamships and railways.〔 The northern rim of the South Wales Coalfield, focused on Merthyr, became Britain's foremost iron-producing district in the second half of the 18th century, while the south-western part of the coalfield, around Swansea, emerged as an important centre of non-ferrous metal smelting and tinplate production. Metallurgical industries required ever increasing quantities of coal, which was initially largely mined for this purpose. However, coal mining for sale developed in earnest from the mid 19th century and this was to become the signature industry of the region, transforming the economic and social landscape of the South Wales Valleys.〔 Although a much smaller industry than coal, the slate industry in Wales became the world's largest supplier in the 19th century and had an enduring impact on the landscape of North Wales.〔The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press 2008.〕 At its height in the 1890s, there were dozens of quarries employing around 15,000 men, although they suffered from the boom and bust nature of the construction industry.〔 As most of the workforce were drawn from rural, Welsh-speaking communities, slate quarrying was described by one historian as "the most Welsh of Welsh industries".〔 Despite explosive growth in the early 1900s, by the 1920s it was apparent that Wales was facing economic difficulties, largely because of its reliance on older heavy industry rather the newer, growing light industry sectors that were becoming established in the more prosperous parts of England.〔Elwyn Jones, G. The Role of Education in National Identity and Economic Development in Wales since 1800. Background paper.〕 Even during a boom period at the start of the 20th century, Wales had a narrow economic base dependent on the labour intensive exploitation of natural resources. The Welsh export economy collapsed during the inter-war recession, a victim of increasing protectionism and the rise of new competitors overseas. As global terms of trade changed, unemployment in the South Wales Valleys soared to unprecedented levels during the early 1930s (up to 59% in Merthyr and 76% in Pontypridd), despite the exodus of 400,000 people from the region between 1921 and 1939.〔Day, G. (2002) ''Making Sense of Wales. A Sociological Perspective.'' Cardiff: University of Wales Press.〕 In the post-war era, the steel and tinplate industries consolidated on a smaller number of larger sites, such as the new works at Port Talbot and Llanwern.〔Jenkins, P. (1992) A History of Modern Wales, 1536–1990. Harlow: Longman.〕 The National Coal Board, created in 1947, tried to modernise the Welsh coal industry but the number of pits in South Wales shrank from 115 in 1953, producing almost 21 million tons, to 34 in 1981, producing 7.7 million tons.〔 Pembrokeshire and Swansea Bay became centres of the petrochemical industry and new light industry was attracted to locations throughout Wales.〔 Wales attracted an above average share of the foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UK from the 1970s onwards but many of the new plants established by foreign firms were essentially "branch factory" operations offering low-wage, low-skill employment opportunities.〔(The Welsh Economy )〕〔Morgan, Kenneth O. (2002) Rebirth of a Nation: A History of Modern Wales. Oxford: Oxford University Press.〕 In 1971 Sir Julian Hodge founded the Commercial Bank of Wales (later renamed Bank of Wales) but the company was later taken over by HBOS and the brand dropped in 2002. In the post-war decades there was a shift towards service sector employment, which accounted for 60% of jobs by the 1980s, many of them held by women.〔 The concentration of official agencies in Cardiff increased the amount of bureaucratic public sector employment: Government regional policy brought various national bodies to Wales: the Royal Mint moved to Llantrisant, Companies House to Cardiff and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre to Swansea.〔 From the 1970s on, the steel industry contracted, with works at Ebbw Vale, Shotton and East Moors in Cardiff closing and layoffs elsewhere. The early 1980s recession had a bigger impact in Wales than in other parts of the UK: between 1979 and 1982, Wales lost 130,000 jobs〔 and the employment rate fell to 62%.〔Department for Work and Pensions / Welsh Assembly Government (2007) ''Wales: Towards Full Employment''.〕 Recovery started later in Wales, and structural changes left a legacy of high unemployment amongst older men, especially in the Valleys.〔 Today, Wales remains a lagging region within the wider United Kingdom economy. Over the long term, output and productivity growth in Wales has been broadly in line with the UK and the developed world as a whole, although there are some unexplained gaps in particular service industries. What has marked Wales out is a low activity rate compared to other parts of the UK.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Economy of Wales」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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