North and West Norfolk have the lowest productivity levels in East Anglia, a new report shows.

Data from the East Anglia Regional Productivity Forum identified the two locations - which it links together as a single area - just below Breckland and South Norfolk, which is also considered a single area.

Norwich and Norfolk East - another single area - had higher levels of productivity, but were still lower than other parts of East Anglia.

Peterborough came out top, followed by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. Both counties were considered as single regions, rather than broken down into smaller areas.

Overall, the report ranked East Anglia 19th out of 41 regions in the UK in terms of productivity.

Comparing levels in 2019 with those in 2008 - when the economic recession hit - Norwich and East Norfolk has seen the largest increase in productivity in East Anglia.

Over the same period, levels fell in Breckland and South Norfolk by almost 4pc.

Productivity is one of the key ways experts measure economic growth for a region.

According to the East Anglia Regional Productivity Forum, historically the UK's productivity has grown by around 2pc per year but has stagnated since the 2008/09 economic recession.

A number of factors can impact a region's productivity. These include the age of the population, the quality of agricultural land and the impact of climate change - for example whether an area has suffered from droughts or flooding.

Alex Plant, chairman of the East Anglia Productivity Forum and director of strategy and regulation at Anglian Water, said: “The work of the East Anglia Regional Productivity Forum has been essential in drawing together expertise from across the region’s private, public and third sector organisations to map out the opportunities, risks, and linkages between the different functional economies in the region.

"We recognise that our region is at the forefront of both the challenges and opportunities from climate change. As we move into the next phase of work, we are keen that the work of the Forum can bring forward proposals that can allow us to address the former and maximise the latter and drive up both productivity performance and the quality of life for all who live and work here."