rural industries

Some really interesting stats here. The article tells us:

Rural industries are misunderstood, undervalued, even dismissed. Yet the contributions made by them are not just important, they are vital in terms of the economy; farming and food security; climate change; the environment; health and wellbeing; homes and infrastructure; education and training; recreation, leisure and social wellbeing.

In 2015/16 there were 537,000 businesses employing 3.5 million people registered in rural areas; this accounted for 24% of all registered businesses in England. There are more registered businesses per head of population in predominantly rural areas than in predominantly urban areas, excluding London.

During the same period there were 53 registered business start-ups per 10,000 of the population in predominantly urban areas (excluding London) compared with 49 per 10,000 in predominantly rural areas. The rural economy is an important part of the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP).