Aberdonians 35 per cent better off than Glaswegians, say official figures

The figures on gross disposable income from the Office for National Statistics show that the average amount taken home after tax and bills is just over £20,000 a year in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Aberdeenshire.

However, this number drops to just under £15,000 a year in Glasgow and North Lanarkshire, leaving people in the north east about 35 per cent better off, in take-home cash, than those in Glasgow.

Meanwhile, the same gap between extremes registered south of the border in West London and the East Midlands shows an even greater level of inequality.

The ONS said an average gross disposable income of £43,000 in Westminster compared with just £11,700 in Leicester.

This constitutes a whopping 270 per cent difference.

But even within western London there are huge gaps, the ONS said.

Haringey and Islington, with average disposable incomes slightly higher than Edinburgh and Aberdeen, are still half that of their Westminster neighbours.

Stephen Boyd, of the Scottish Trades Union Council, said: “These figures demonstrate once again the extremes of regional income inequality to be found across the UK.

“Despite all the rhetoric about rebalancing in the early days of the Coalition government, the UK is actually in danger of regressing on this measure.

“Of course significant variations are also to be found across Scotland; especially between and within our largest cities.

“The sad truth is that 30 years of supply side focused economic development policies have failed to address the structural deficit in decent work in too many regions and communities.”