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Most economic well-being indicators such as real household disposable income and spending per head continued to improve in the final quarter of 2018, similar to recent trends. Although other aspects of personal well-being remained flat, anxiety ratings improved in the year ending December 2018
Real household disposable income per head grew quicker than real household spending per head, compared to the same quarter a year ago for only the third time in the past 12 quarters
Looking beneath the aggregate picture, up to financial year 2017/18, the richest fifth of individuals saw a 4.7% annual increase in their real equivalised household disposable income compared with a 1.6% contraction for the poorest fifth, resulting in increased income inequality
Prices on essentials such as food and non-alcoholic beverages grew by 0.7% up to December 2018, slower than prices for non-essentials such as recreation and culture, which grew by 2.9%
Although average anxiety ratings reached a 3-year low in 2018, about 10.3 million people or around a fifth of the population continued to report high anxiety, and this proportion has remained similar since 2014
The Office for National Statistics produces the numbers that matter most – on the economy and business, people, population and communities. Operating impartially and free of political control, we are mobilising the power of data to help Britain make better decisions and improve lives.
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