Dougie Robb

The figures appear in the Economic Nowcast released by Smart Data Foundry, Edinburgh’s “data for good” pioneers, to give a near real-time snapshot of the UK’s finances.

Based on anonymised data from 5.3 million consumer bank accounts and thousands of SMEs, the Nowcast provides a unique view of shifts in economic wellbeing across consumers and small businesses.

It focuses on three key indicators representing financial resilience and productivity across the UK – percentage of people spending more than they earn and average weekly income, both updated monthly, and small business productivity, updated each quarter.

The latest Nowcast shows that:

• 14.6% of people are spending more than they earn – a 0.2% rise since last month
• The average UK weekly income is £319.68 – a 0.55% rise since last month
• The average revenue generated per employee of small businesses in Q1 2025 was £10,674 – a 0.14% drop since Q4 2024

Dougie Robb, CEO of Smart Data Foundry, said: “Our Nowcast is designed to give near real-time insight to policymakers, analysts and service providers, highlighting monthly variations and trends and the influence of political decisions, economic shifts, and global events on the British economy.

“For example, over time it will provide a useful indication of the impact of April’s increase in National Living Wage (up 6.7% to £12.21 per hour for over 21s), the effect of employers’ National Insurance rises on small businesses, and of rising prices for consumers.

“Access to up-to-date information is more valuable than ever, as global economic conditions undergo rapid and unpredictable changes – from the introduction of new tariffs to the escalation of geopolitical conflicts.

“By utilising real world, near real-time data, the Nowcast allows policymakers to gain additional and timely economic insights, supplementing official statistics and enhancing the policymaker’s ability to address economic challenges swiftly and effectively.”

The Economic Nowcast is available on the Smart Data Foundry website as an open-source of insight.

Also recently launched by SDF is its Economic Wellbeing Explorer, an interactive dashboard which tracks economic resilience and wellbeing at national, regional, and local levels, and between age groups and income ranges.

As part of its initial rollout, the platform is now open for registration allowing public sector bodies, NGOs, researchers, economists, analysts and journalists to use these insights for evidence-based decision-making and reporting on poverty and inequality.

Smart Data Foundry was established in 2022 to unlock the power of financial data to tackle big issues like poverty and inequality and create positive impact across society, the economy, and the environment. A University of Edinburgh subsidiary, the not-for-profit organisation works with major financial institutions, the public sector and charities to develop insights, inform solutions, and drive forward the data-for-good movement.

SDF has access to unparalleled de-identified private sector financial data via pioneering partnerships with leading financial institutions, including NatWest, Virgin Money, Sage, Moneyhub and more.

The Economic Nowcast is powered by data from NatWest Group, with Sage providing data on SME productivity. Data methodologies can be found on the Smart Data Foundry website.