Disability in England and Wales, 2011 and Comparison with 2001

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• More than 10 million people were limited in daily activities in England and Wales in 2011.
• The percentage of people with activity limitations has fallen slightly since 2001; by 0.3 of a percentage point in England and 0.6 of a percentage point in Wales; however, prevalence remains 5 percentage points higher in Wales, a similar difference to that in 2001.
• People whose activities are limited ‘a lot’ because of a health problem or disability was more than 3 percentage points higher in Wales (11.9 per cent) than in England (8.3 per cent) in 2011.
• Across English regions there was a general north-south divide with percentages of people limited a lot or a little in daily activities lower in the south and higher in the north.
• The North East region (21.6 per cent) had the highest percentage of activity limitations and London (14.2 per cent) the lowest.
• The London borough of Wandsworth (11.2 per cent) had the lowest percentage of activity limitations and Neath and Port Talbot in Wales (28.0 per cent) the highest.
• The ten English local authorities with the lowest percentage of activity limiting health problems or disabilities were located exclusively in London and the South East.
• London and other large urban conurbations in England such as Manchester experienced the greatest reductions in activity limitations since 2001, while rural local authorities, such as East Lindsey in Lincolnshire, experience the greatest rise in prevalence.
• The percentage of activity limitations in Liverpool, the most deprived1 English local authority, was 10.4 percentage points higher than Hart in Hampshire, the least deprived local authority.
• The level of inequality by area disadvantage groupings has fallen since 2001 by 3.2 percentage points in Wales and by 3.3 points in England.