Jersey’s economy grew at four times Guernsey’s annual rate over the decade to 2023, according to new analysis published as part of a Guernsey data project.
The figures are included in the new Guernsey Deputy Scorecard, a free project by Bridgehead Communications which brings together public data on Guernsey’s economy, housing, healthcare, education and crime.
Figures compiled for the scorecard show real compound growth of 2.4% a year in Jersey between 2013 and 2023, compared with 0.6% in Guernsey and an OECD average of 2.0%.
The comparison uses each economy’s published annual real growth figures over the same 2013 to 2023 period.
Bridgehead estimates that, had Guernsey grown at Jersey’s pace from its own 2013 base, its 2023 real GDP would have been around £4,171m rather than £3,488m, a difference of £683m.
The £683m figure is a comparison of the size of the economy under the different growth rates, rather than an estimate of lost government revenue or a forecast.
The difference was particularly marked in 2023, when Jersey’s real GDP grew 7.3%, while Guernsey’s fell 2%. Guernsey’s nominal GDP nevertheless rose 5% to £3,488m, with finance and insurance contributing £1,304m, or 37% of the total.
The wider scorecard also highlights Guernsey’s housing figures. A total of 62 net new homes were created in 2025, compared with a States target of 313 additional homes a year.
The target forms part of the States Strategic Housing Indicator for 2023 to 2027, which sets an overall figure of 1,565 additional homes over the five-year period. The scorecard puts the average number of net new homes created between 2016 and 2025 at 106 a year.
Will Walter (pictured), Founder and Managing Director of Bridgehead Communications, said: “Jersey should take a bow. Over the decade that matters it has grown at four times Guernsey’s pace, and it beat the OECD average while doing it.
“I built the scorecard for Guernsey, but the growth chapter is really a tale of two islands. The £683m figure is not a forecast and it is not lost tax revenue. It is a way of making a decade of quiet divergence feel as big as it actually is.”
Will Walter added: “The two things that will actually decide whether this island has a future are whether the economy grows and whether anyone can afford to live in it, and both are where I want scrutiny to land next.”
