Sectors where growth in isolation looks unremarkable are quietly outperforming their national equivalents, according to the latest Sussex Intelligence Unit Data Briefing.
The strongest example is the region’s energy sector. Between 2004 and 2023, the electricity, gas, water and waste sector grew 13% in real terms in Sussex. Across England, the same sector shrank 29%. This is a gap of 42% in Sussex’s favour, increasing to to 50% once London is set aside. In other words, Sussex expanded a sector that was contracting almost everywhere else, plausibly on the strength of its clean-energy assets, including the Rampion offshore windfarm and the Energy Recovery Facility around Newhaven.
The visitor economy tells a similar story. Accommodation and food service grew 17% in Sussex against just 4% nationally, while arts, entertainment and recreation grew 8% even as the same sector fell 4% across England. Land-based industries follow suit: agriculture, forestry and fishing grew 23% in Sussex against 14% nationally.
None of these are large sectors in absolute terms. Their significance lies in the comparison: they show strength in areas that are stalling nationally.
The finding is in contrast to the SIU’s previous briefing, which examined Sussex’s fastest-growing sector, technology. This grew 134% since 2004, faster than any other sector but this is barely half the national rate. The latest briefings make a single point: headline growth on its own can mislead, and the comparison is where strategy should start. It can reveal a hidden strength as readily as a hidden weakness.
All figures are drawn from the Office for National Statistics’ Regional Gross Value Added (Balanced) by Industry dataset, 2025 release, using chained volume measures at 2023 prices to allow real-terms comparison. Sussex totals combine Brighton & Hove, East Sussex and West Sussex.
Read the full briefing at sussexintelligence.com.