GLASGOW is no longer the part of Scotland with the lowest disposable household income.
New official figures show the dubious honour now belongs to North and East Ayrshire.
Data from the Office for National Statistics also showed a recent surge in household income in the Highlands & Islands and the Borders, driven in part my more retirees settling there.
Drawing on the data, a new paper from Scottish Parliament analysts looked at long-term trends in Gross Disposable Household Income (GDHI) per person, the discretionary spending left after tax, national insurance and mortgage and loan interest payments.
It found that in 2015, the average GDHI in Scotland was £18,315, just below the UK average of £19,106, and the fifth highest of the 13 statistical regions of the UK.
East Ayrshire and Mainland North Ayrshire, which are classed as one region, had the lowest GDH, at £16,037, after being overtaken by Glasgow, which was £16,206.
In the previous year, 2014, Glasgow had been the area of Scotland with the lowest GDHI by some margin, at £14,757, and was the only Scottish area in the UK’s poorest 20 per cent.
Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire had the highest GDHI in 2015, at £22,036, followed by Edinburgh (£21,226) and the Shetland Islands (£20,531).
Between 1997 and 2015, Scotland experienced the second highest growth in GDHI in the UK, with the Orkney Islands seeing the biggest rise, of 127 per cent.
Edinburgh and the Highland communities down the west coast had the highest proportion of income coming in from rents, while the Highlands and Borders communities had the highest slice of income derived from benefits - up to 27 per cent - because of high pension numbers.
The report said: “For the third year running Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire has the highest GDHI in Scotland.
“East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire Mainland has replaced Glasgow as the area of Scotland with the lowest GDHI per person.
“This is because over the year in Glasgow, along with the Shetland Islands, saw the highest increase in GDHI per person in Scotland, while East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire Mainland saw no growth.
“Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire and Edinburgh were the only Scottish areas in the UK’s top 30 areas for the highest levels of GDHI per person in 2015.”
It added: “Since 1997 the Scottish Borders is the area which has seen the largest increase in income from benefits, in both Scotland and the UK. The Scottish Borders has also seen one of the largest increases in the proportion of the population being 65 and over.”
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