page_title: Swansea
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Swansea / Economy
caption_attribution_description: English: Technium Square Swansea Part of the redevelopment of Swansea docks, with the merchant seamen's war memorial in the centre and Technium business innovation buildings on either side.
context_page_description: Swansea is a coastal city and county, officially known as the City and County of Swansea in Wales. The county area includes Swansea Bay and the Gower Peninsula. Swansea's position on the southwest coast of Wales is within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan and the ancient Welsh commote of Gŵyr. Swansea is the second largest city in Wales and the twenty-fifth largest city in the United Kingdom. Swansea had a population of 241,300 in 2014; the second most populous local authority area in Wales after Cardiff. Together with Neath and Port Talbot, Swansea formed a wider Urban Area of 300,352 in 2011.
  During the 19th-century industrial heyday, Swansea was the key centre of the copper-smelting industry, earning the nickname Copperopolis.
context_section_description: Swansea originally developed as centre for metals and mining, especially the copper industry, from the beginning of the 18th century. The industry reached its apogee in the 1880s, when 60% of the copper ores imported to Britain were smelted in the Lower Swansea valley. However, by the end of the Second World War these heavy industries were in decline, and over the post-war decades Swansea shared in the general trend towards a post-industrial, service sector economy.
  Of the 105,900 people estimated to work within the City and County of Swansea, over 90% are employed in the service sectors, with relatively high shares (compared to the Welsh and UK averages) in public administration, education & health and banking, finance & insurance, and correspondingly high proportions of employment in occupations associated with the service sector, including professional, administrative/secretarial and sales/customer service occupations. The local authority believes this pattern reflects Swansea's role as a service centre for South West Wales.
  Economic activity and employment rates in Swansea were slightly above the Welsh average in October 2008, but lower than the UK average. In 2005, GVA per head in Swansea was £14,302 – nearly 4% above the Welsh average but 20% below the UK average. Median full-time earnings in Swansea were £21,577 in 2007, almost identical to the Welsh average.
  Swansea is home to the DVLA headquarters in Morriston, which employs around 6,000 people in the city. Other major employers in the city are Admiral Group, HSBC, Virgin Media, Swansea Bay University Health Board, BT and Amazon.co.uk. Virgin Atlantic also maintains its largest worldwide contact centre in Swansea; including reservations, sales, baggage claims, and customer relations.
  In July 2020, a study found Swansea to be the 4th best UK location in which to start a business.
caption: Part of the Swansea Waterfront developments.
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