page_title: North Yorkshire
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: North Yorkshire / Economy
caption_attribution_description: English: Thirsk is an important town for tourists with accommodations, restaurants and attractions
context_page_description: North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan county and the largest ceremonial county in England by area. It is located primarily in the region of Yorkshire and the Humber, but partly in the region of North East England. The ONS estimated that the population of North Yorkshire was 602,300 in mid-2016; this figure excludes the unitary districts of York, Middlesbrough, Stockton and Redcar & Cleveland.
  Created by the Local Government Act 1972, it covers an area of 8,654 square kilometres, making it the largest county in England. The majority of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors lie within North Yorkshire's boundaries, and around 40% of the county is covered by National Parks. The largest towns are Middlesbrough, York, Harrogate and Scarborough; the county town, Northallerton, has a population of 16,832.
context_section_description: The county is affluent and has above average UK house prices. Unemployment is below average for the UK and claimants of Job Seekers Allowance is also very low compared to the rest of the UK at 2.7%.
  Agriculture is an important industry, as are mineral extraction and power generation. The county also has prosperous high technology, service and tourism sectors. Tourism is certainly a significant contributor to the economy. A study of visitors between 2013 and 2015 indicated that the Borough of Scarborough, including Filey, Whitby and parts of the North York Moors National Park, received 1.4m trips per year on average. A 2016 report by the National Park however, provides more impressive numbers: the park area gets 7.93 million visitors annually, generating £647 million and supporting 10,900 full-time equivalent jobs.
  In 2016, there were 3.8 million visits to the Yorkshire Dales National Park including 0.48 million who stayed at least one night. The parks service estimates that this contributed 
  £252 million to the economy and provided 3,583 full-time equivalent jobs. The wider Yorkshire Dales area received 9.7 million visitors who contributed £644 million to the economy. The North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales are among England’s best known destinations.
  The North Yorkshire County Council operates many small tourist information offices in rural areas. Nature or eco-tourism has become an important factor. In addition to hiking, some areas attract tourists with wildlife, although the latter aspect has yet to be fully developed.
  The historic towns of York and Harrogate are the top tourist destinations in the geographic area. York attracts millions of visitors, some of whom may be enticed to continue northward to other areas of North Yorkshire. A 2014 report, based on 2012 data, stated that York alone receives 6.9 million visitors annually; they contribute £564 million to the economy and support over 19,000 jobs. In the 2017 Condé Nast Traveller survey of readers, York rated 12th among The 15 Best Cities in the UK for visitors.
  This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added for North Yorkshire at current basic prices with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
caption: Thirsk is an important town for tourists with accommodation, restaurants and attractions
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