Revealed: The richest and poorest areas of the UK

People in Nottingham have the least disposable income in the UK, new analysis has revealed.

The study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) looked at regional differences in disposable income across the UK and found the top five wealthiest places were in London in 2020, the most recent date for which data was available.

Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and Fulham remain the richest places in the UK, unchanged from the previous year.

The ONS produced the analysis based on gross disposable household income (GDHI), which is the amount of money that all the individuals in the household sector have available for spending or saving after they have paid direct and indirect taxes and received any direct benefits.

Read more: Map shows areas that would be worst hit by a cut to benefits

People living in Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and Fulham have on average £60,277 a year to spend or save – nearly three times the UK average of £21,440.

Despite being far wealthier than the rest of the UK, the richest areas of London have seen their wealth decline the most, with Westminster losing 8.6%, Camden and the City of London at 6.0%, followed by Barnet at 2.2%.

The only place outside of London to see a large decline in income was Buckinghamshire, which lost 2.1%.

The ONS said this decline was largely driven by a decline in property income, which has declined by 21% despite recent sharp rises in the price of rent.

On the other end of the scale, people in Nottingham had just £13,952 to spend or save.

Read more: Middle-aged, middle-income households facing economic hit, expert warns

In total 95 of 179 areas saw an increase in GDHI per head between 2019 and 2020.

By comparison, 175 of the 179 areas saw an increase in GDHI per head between 2018 and 2019.

The ONS said this change was due to the COVID-19 pandemic which affected local areas in different ways.

The government increased several benefits, most notably Universal Credit, at the outset of the pandemic to support increased unemployment.

Places like Westminster, which had a large number of renters, saw steep declines as people moved out of central London as the nation moved to working from home.

The five richest areas are:

• Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and Fulham

• Westminster

• Camden and City of London

• Wandsworth

• Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames

The five poorest areas are:

• Coventry

• Sandwell

• Blackburn with Darwen

• Leicester

• Nottingham