Disposable income down in Shropshire for first time in 15 years

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal that the average disposable income in both Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin declined in its most recent period – covering 2014.

The average disposable income per head of population in Shropshire came in at £17,037 – a fall of 2.8 per cent.

That marked the first fall in the figure – which reflects the amount of money left for spending or saving after taxes, National Insurance contributions, property ownership and pension payments – since records began in 1998.

Telford & Wrekin suffered a second consecutive decline in the average disposable income per head of population during the same year.

A 1.8 per cent fall in the typical Telford resident's available cash added to a 0.4 per cent drop the previous year to take the overall figure to £14,875.

Both local authorities have a lower average household income per head than the national average, which stood at £17,965.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, London was home to the highest income, with Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham both boasting individual spending power of £45,988 available to save or spend.

Leicester had the lowest, with the average person having £12,071. Wolverhampton was also in the bottom 10, with a figure of £13,414. The figures came against a backdrop of a growing economy, and in 2014 GDP – the key measure of Britain's overall economic output – grew in real terms by 2.9 per cent, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That was the strongest year of economic output the country had seen since 2005, but the average disposable income among British people grew by its slowest rate in years.

The average Powys resident also suffered a decline in disposable income – but by only £1 a year, with the figure totalling £16,634.