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Property & private pensions make up the largest share of wealth for Britain’s richest households.But the picture looks very different lower down the wealth distribution. For middle-income households, property and pensions are still important, but financial wealth is modest. For the lowest deciles, physical assets — cars, household items, and possessions — account for almost all of what little wealth they hold.Inequality isn’t just about how much wealth households have, but also what kind of wealth it is.Click on the chart to read Duncan Maclennan & Jinqiao Long on 'How does the housing market affect wealth inequality?'.#ChartOfTheDay
This week is Farming Week at the Economics Observatory.Today's #ChartOfTheDay shows that productivity gains accounted for 51% of global agricultural output growth between 2011 and 2022. This marks a shift from the pre-1990s period, when the expansion of land, irrigation and inputs drove growth. Productivity growth in agriculture has allowed food to become more abundant and cheaper even as the world’s population has increased.
The Bank of England kept interest rates at 4% in September, with a 7–2 vote by the Monetary Policy Committee. Two members backed a cut to 3.75%, but sticky inflation — CPI held at 3.8% in July and August — kept the majority cautious.The MPC also slowed the pace of quantitative tightening (reducing the stock of government bonds it holds), trimming planned gilt sales from £100bn to £70bn over the next year. This follows concerns that the Bank's policy and rate of bond sales, unusually high by international standards, has been inflating bond yields and government borrowing costs.The next MPC decision is due 6th November 2025.
Gold has climbed to an all‑time high today, rising past $ 3,500 per ounce amid growing expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut and a softer U.S. dollar. Click on the chart to read Philip Fliers on why gold is seen as a safe haven asset.
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) could be replaced with an annual levy on homes over £500,000.SDLT raises billions each year, accounting for 1% to 2.5% of all tax receipts. Any new system would need to deliver similar revenues.
The reliability of labour market statistics is under pressure.Since late 2021, the number of completed interviews in the UK’s Labour Force Survey has dropped sharply, reducing the accuracy of unemployment measures. This is not unique to the UK: in the United States, response rates for the main labour market survey have fallen from over 90% in 2010 to below 70% today — highlighting a global challenge in data collection.Click on the chart to read Stuart McIntyre on what’s been going wrong with labour market statistics – and what’s at stake.
This chart shows an example of reductions in the costs of new technologies over time, highlighting the dramatic fall in the real cost of computer memory and storage over time. In the space of just a few decades, the cost of computer (random access) memory dropped exponentially, from hundreds of trillions of dollars per terabyte in the 1950s to around a thousand dollars per terabyte today.
Global cocoa prices are up almost 18% on last year, following dry weather across West Africa and the spread of a disease affecting cacao trees.Click on the chart to read more about food inflation from Finn McEvoy.
🍷The economics of wine is on the agenda at the EEA2025 Bordeaux conference.France leads the world in wine exports – over 32.5% of the total in 2024 – with a trade surplus of $11.7 billion.Visit our Data Hub to explore and create your own charts.
How do you spend your time in a typical day?Today’s #ChartOfTheDay breaks down average daily time use across OECD countries.Japan leads in time spent on paid work or study — averaging 6.1 hours/day. Mexico tops the list for unpaid work (like domestic chores and childcare), with 4.4 hours/day.When it comes to personal care — sleeping, eating, hygiene — France stands out. With 12.5 hours/day, it’s the only country in the dataset where people spend over half the day on wellbeing. Italy follows with 11.8 hours.
On Monday, April 28, 2025, Canadians will vote in a federal general election to elect members of the House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament. ?Over the past five months, polls have shown a sharp reversal in fortunes. Once trailing significantly, the Liberal Party, led by Mark Carney, now maintains a narrow lead.
In 1971, the UK’s female employment rate lagged men’s by nearly 40 percentage points. Today, that gap stands at just 6.4%. Interestingly, major economic shocks often spurred this convergence, as recessions hit male-dominated industries hardest. Economists refer to this as a “man-cession” effect, though it also reflects longer-term sectoral shifts that favour service and knowledge-based work. Other factors include the “added worker” effect—where some women join the labour force when male earnings drop—and the possibility of “forced renewal,” where post-layoff hiring opens doors for more women. So, do recessions boost gender equality—or simply speed up changes already in motion?Saturday 8th March
