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Facts and Figures

Area of 9,000 square kilometres 

Population of 2.6 million in 2006

GVA per head stood at £14,048 in 2005 and is growing above the national average, exceeding the growth levels of both London and the South East

North East England is home to 588 overseas companies from 32 countries, employing over 27,000 people

Five Universities with over 50 RAE 5 or 5* rated departments and 18 further education colleges attracting almost 96,000 full and part-time students

The region has the 3rd highest graduate retention rate in the UK at 59%

Only London has a higher rate of tech start-ups than North East England

Expenditure on R&D by the region’s businesses is rising year on year with the latest levels of spending reaching £281m

North East England welcomes over half a million overseas visitors each year and in 2004 it saw the greatest number of overseas visitors visit the region (540,000)