Reference

R&D tax relief by UK sub-region

HMRC publishes the number of R&D claims and the relief behind them for 46 sub-regions of the United Kingdom, four years at a time, grouped by region. It does not rank them. This page does: every sub-region ordered on relief claimed and on claims for 2023-24, with the change since 2020-21, then the same figures cut for Wales and by industry sector.

One limitation governs everything below and it is HMRC's own. The regional distribution is compiled from the claimant company's registered address, and HMRC states that The registered address may not be where actual R&D activity is carried out. A company doing its research in Wrexham and registered at its London accountant's address counts as a London claim; a group with a South East head office counts there, whatever happens at its Bridgend site. Read the ranking as a map of where claimant companies are registered.

Two further things travel with the figures. HMRC rounds every one of them independently to the nearest 5 claims or £5 million, so a column does not always add to its total and a percentage computed from two rounded figures carries a band rather than a point. Each row below shows its band. And 2023-24 is provisional, uplifted for claims not yet received.

Nothing here is modelled, weighted or interpolated. The only arithmetic is subtraction, division and ordering, and every figure that went into it names the HMRC worksheet and cell it came from, in its own row. The sub-regional figures come from the supplementary tables (RDS1), the regional totals from RD5, the sector figures from RD6 and the cross-tab from RDS2; UK totals are HMRC's own, from RD1, RD2 and RD4.

Take the data, and how to cite it

Cite this page as: LimestoneGrey, “R&D tax relief by UK sub-region, 2020-21 to 2023-24”, https://www.limestonegrey.com/rd-tax-relief/statistics/regions/ — compiled from HM Revenue and Customs, Research and Development Tax Credits Statistics: September 2025.

Re-use it freely. The source data is Crown copyright, published under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and this compilation goes out under the same licence: copy it, republish it, chart it, quote it. Attribution is appreciated rather than required, and a link to this page lets a reader check the figure against the cell it came from. Each row has its own address, so /rd-tax-relief/statistics/regions/#sr-north-wales opens on a single sub-region and keeps working.

The ranking: all 46 sub-regions

Ranked on relief claimed in 2023-24, with the change since 2020-21. Sub-regions are HMRC's ITL2 areas. The 46 rows below plus HMRC's separate “Unknown” region reconcile to its published UK total of £7,555m and 46,950 claims, within the rounding HMRC applies.

Showing all 46 sub-regions.

R&D tax relief claimed and claims made, by UK ITL2 sub-region, 2023-24, ranked on relief, with the change since 2020-21 and the HMRC worksheet and cell each figure came from.
Rank Sub-region Relief, 2023-24 Change since 2020-21 Claims, 2023-24 Rank on claims Share of UK relief HMRC source
1 Inner London - West London £1,425m +£215m +17.8% (+17.3% to +18.2%) 5,380 1 18.9% RDS1_2324 H37, I37 RDS1_2021 H37, I37
2 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire South East (England) £690m +£130m +23.2% (+22.2% to +24.2%) 2,590 3 9.1% RDS1_2324 H42, I42 RDS1_2021 H42, I42
3 Inner London - East London £655m +£60m +10.1% (+9.2% to +11.0%) 3,490 2 8.7% RDS1_2324 H36, I36 RDS1_2021 H36, I36
4 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough East (England) £570m +£250m +78.1% (+76.0% to +80.3%) 1,360 8 7.5% RDS1_2324 H31, I31 RDS1_2021 H31, I31
5 Surrey, East and West Sussex South East (England) £465m +£120m +34.8% (+33.1% to +36.5%) 2,050 4 6.2% RDS1_2324 H45, I45 RDS1_2021 H45, I45
6 West Midlands West Midlands (England) £350m +£100m +40.0% (+37.6% to +42.4%) 1,365 7 4.6% RDS1_2324 H28, I28 RDS1_2021 H28, I28
7 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire East (England) £295m +£55m +22.9% (+20.6% to +25.3%) 1,350 10 3.9% RDS1_2324 H30, I30 RDS1_2021 H30, I30
8 Greater Manchester North West (England) £250m +£25m +11.1% (+8.8% to +13.5%) 1,855 5 3.3% RDS1_2324 H13, I13 RDS1_2021 H13, I13
9 Hampshire and Isle of Wight South East (England) £210m +£5m +2.4% (0.0% to +4.9%) 1,320 11 2.8% RDS1_2324 H43, I43 RDS1_2021 H43, I43
10 Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire East Midlands (England) £180m −£15m −7.7% (−10.1% to −5.2%) 1,205 14 2.4% RDS1_2324 H23, I23 RDS1_2021 H23, I23
11 Outer London - West and North West London £155m −£80m −34.0% (−35.8% to −32.3%) 1,355 9 2.1% RDS1_2324 H40, I40 RDS1_2021 H40, I40
12 Northern Ireland Northern Ireland £140m +£5m +3.7% (0.0% to +7.5%) 1,305 12 1.9% RDS1_2324 H64, I64 RDS1_2021 H64, I64
13 Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire West Midlands (England) £135m +£5m +3.8% (0.0% to +7.8%) 1,095 15 1.8% RDS1_2324 H26, I26 RDS1_2021 H26, I26
14 East Central Scotland Scotland £125m +£25m +25.0% (+19.5% to +30.8%) 795 23 1.7% RDS1_2324 H57, I57 RDS1_2021 H57, I57
15 Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire East Midlands (England) £115m −£10m −8.0% (−11.8% to −4.1%) 1,260 13 1.5% RDS1_2324 H22, I22 RDS1_2021 H22, I22
15 Cheshire North West (England) £115m +£15m +15.0% (+9.8% to +20.5%) 790 24 1.5% RDS1_2324 H11, I11 RDS1_2021 H11, I11
15 Gloucestershire and Wiltshire South West (England) £115m No change 0.0% (−4.3% to +4.4%) 910 21 1.5% RDS1_2324 H49, I49 RDS1_2021 H49, I49
18 Kent South East (England) £110m +£5m +4.8% (0.0% to +9.8%) 980 17 1.5% RDS1_2324 H44, I44 RDS1_2021 H44, I44
18 West of England South West (England) £110m +£10m +10.0% (+4.9% to +15.4%) 890 22 1.5% RDS1_2324 H51, I51 RDS1_2021 H51, I51
18 West Yorkshire Yorkshire and The Humber £110m −£40m −26.7% (−29.5% to −23.7%) 1,410 6 1.5% RDS1_2324 H20, I20 RDS1_2021 H20, I20
21 Essex East (England) £90m −£60m −40.0% (−42.6% to −37.3%) 975 19 1.2% RDS1_2324 H32, I32 RDS1_2021 H32, I32
22 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear North East (England) £85m −£20m −19.0% (−23.3% to −14.6%) 1,085 16 1.1% RDS1_2324 H8, I8 RDS1_2021 H8, I8
23 West Central Scotland Scotland £75m +£5m +7.1% (0.0% to +14.8%) 690 29 1% RDS1_2324 H62, I62 RDS1_2021 H62, I62
23 Shropshire and Staffordshire West Midlands (England) £75m −£10m −11.8% (−17.1% to −6.1%) 980 17 1% RDS1_2324 H27, I27 RDS1_2021 H27, I27
23 North Yorkshire Yorkshire and The Humber £75m +£20m +36.4% (+26.1% to +47.6%) 575 31 1% RDS1_2324 H18, I18 RDS1_2021 H18, I18
26 Eastern Scotland Scotland £70m +£30m +75.0% (+58.8% to +93.3%) 390 38 0.9% RDS1_2324 H58, I58 RDS1_2021 H58, I58
26 South East Wales Wales £70m −£15m −17.6% (−22.9% to −12.1%) 770 25 0.9% RDS1_2324 H55, I55 RDS1_2021 H55, I55
28 Merseyside North West (England) £65m −£10m −13.3% (−19.4% to −6.9%) 700 28 0.9% RDS1_2324 H15, I15 RDS1_2021 H15, I15
28 North Somerset, Somerset and Dorset South West (England) £65m −£15m −18.8% (−24.2% to −12.9%) 930 20 0.9% RDS1_2324 H50, I50 RDS1_2021 H50, I50
30 Outer London - South London £55m −£15m −21.4% (−27.6% to −14.8%) 530 32 0.7% RDS1_2324 H39, I39 RDS1_2021 H39, I39
30 North Eastern Scotland Scotland £55m −£15m −21.4% (−27.6% to −14.8%) 405 37 0.7% RDS1_2324 H60, I60 RDS1_2021 H60, I60
32 Lancashire North West (England) £50m −£20m −28.6% (−34.5% to −22.2%) 750 26 0.7% RDS1_2324 H14, I14 RDS1_2021 H14, I14
32 Devon South West (England) £50m No change 0.0% (−9.5% to +10.5%) 520 33 0.7% RDS1_2324 H48, I48 RDS1_2021 H48, I48
34 South Yorkshire Yorkshire and The Humber £45m −£10m −18.2% (−26.1% to −9.5%) 705 27 0.6% RDS1_2324 H19, I19 RDS1_2021 H19, I19
35 Norfolk East (England) £35m −£5m −12.5% (−23.5% to 0.0%) 460 34 0.5% RDS1_2324 H33, I33 RDS1_2021 H33, I33
35 East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Yorkshire and The Humber £35m −£10m −22.2% (−31.6% to −11.8%) 440 35 0.5% RDS1_2324 H17, I17 RDS1_2021 H17, I17
37 Outer London - East and North East London £30m −£30m −50.0% (−56.0% to −43.5%) 580 30 0.4% RDS1_2324 H38, I38 RDS1_2021 H38, I38
37 Tees Valley North East (England) £30m −£5m −14.3% (−26.7% to 0.0%) 250 44 0.4% RDS1_2324 H9, I9 RDS1_2021 H9, I9
39 Southern Scotland Scotland £25m No change 0.0% (−18.2% to +22.2%) 355 40 0.3% RDS1_2324 H61, I61 RDS1_2021 H61, I61
39 North Wales Wales £25m No change 0.0% (−18.2% to +22.2%) 290 42 0.3% RDS1_2324 H54, I54 RDS1_2021 H54, I54
41 Suffolk East (England) £20m −£10m −33.3% (−46.2% to −18.2%) 420 36 0.3% RDS1_2324 H34, I34 RDS1_2021 H34, I34
41 Lincolnshire East Midlands (England) £20m −£5m −20.0% (−36.4% to 0.0%) 340 41 0.3% RDS1_2324 H24, I24 RDS1_2021 H24, I24
41 Mid and South West Wales Wales £20m −£10m −33.3% (−46.2% to −18.2%) 380 39 0.3% RDS1_2324 H53, I53 RDS1_2021 H53, I53
44 Highlands and Islands Scotland £15m +£5m +50.0% (0.0% to +133.3%) 155 46 0.2% RDS1_2324 H59, I59 RDS1_2021 H59, I59
44 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly South West (England) £15m No change 0.0% (−28.6% to +40.0%) 265 43 0.2% RDS1_2324 H47, I47 RDS1_2021 H47, I47
46 Cumbria North West (England) £10m −£5m −33.3% (−57.1% to 0.0%) 195 45 0.1% RDS1_2324 H12, I12 RDS1_2021 H12, I12

The Welsh cut

HMRC splits Wales into three ITL2 sub-regions. Here they are against the Welsh total from RD5 and the UK total, on the same measures. Wales ranked 11 of 12 named UK regions on relief in 2023-24 and 10 of 12 on claims, holding 3.07% of UK claims and 1.52% of UK relief.

The three Welsh ITL2 sub-regions, the Wales region total and the UK total: relief claimed and claims made in 2023-24, with the change since 2020-21.
Area Rank Relief, 2023-24 Change since 2020-21 Claims, 2023-24 Share of UK relief HMRC source
South East Wales Wales 26 of 46 £70m −£15m −17.6% (−22.9% to −12.1%) 770 0.9% RDS1_2324 H55, I55 RDS1_2021 H55, I55
North Wales Wales 39 of 46 £25m No change 0.0% (−18.2% to +22.2%) 290 0.3% RDS1_2324 H54, I54 RDS1_2021 H54, I54
Mid and South West Wales Wales 41 of 46 £20m −£10m −33.3% (−46.2% to −18.2%) 380 0.3% RDS1_2324 H53, I53 RDS1_2021 H53, I53
Wales All three sub-regions, from RD5 11 of 12 regions £115m −£25m −17.9% (−21.1% to −14.5%) 1,440 1.52% RD5_2324 H16, I16 RD5_2021 H16, I16
United Kingdom HMRC's own total, from RD1 and RD2 — £7,555m +£700m 46,950 100% RD1 M29, RD2 K29

HMRC published a figure for 3 of the 19 industry sectors in Wales and withheld the other 16 as too small or disclosive. The largest of the 3 was C. Manufacturing, at £45m of relief (RDS2_2324 J191). That makes it the largest published sector in Wales rather than the largest sector.

The sector cut

HMRC's industry-sector table for the United Kingdom (RD6), ranked on relief in 2023-24, with the Welsh figure for the same sector from the region-and-sector cross-tab (RDS2) beside it. Sector is the company's primary SIC 2007 code, which may not describe the R&D itself.

R&D tax relief claimed by industry sector across the United Kingdom in 2023-24, ranked on relief, with the change since 2020-21 and the Welsh figure for each sector.
Rank Sector UK relief, 2023-24 Change since 2020-21 UK claims, 2023-24 Share of UK relief Wales, relief HMRC source
1 C. Manufacturing £1,975m +£360m +22.3% (+21.9% to +22.6%) 12,120 26.1% £45m RD6_2324 I9 RDS2_2324 J191
2 M. Professional, Scientific & Technical £1,850m +£515m +38.6% (+38.1% to +39.0%) 8,925 24.5% £25m RD6_2324 I19 RDS2_2324 J201
3 J. Information & Communication £1,565m +£80m +5.4% (+5.0% to +5.7%) 12,305 20.7% £15m RD6_2324 I16 RDS2_2324 J198
4 N. Admin & Support Services £525m +£5m +1.0% (0.0% to +1.9%) 2,835 6.9% Suppressed — under 10 RD6_2324 I20 RDS2_2324 J202
5 K. Financial & Insurance £395m +£45m +12.9% (+11.3% to +14.4%) 895 5.2% Suppressed — under 10 RD6_2324 I17 RDS2_2324 J199
6 F. Construction £365m −£100m −21.5% (−22.5% to −20.5%) 3,340 4.8% Suppressed — under 10 RD6_2324 I12 RDS2_2324 J194
7 G. Wholesale & Retail Trade, Repairs £200m −£140m −41.2% (−42.3% to −40.0%) 1,985 2.6% Suppressed — under 10 RD6_2324 I13 RDS2_2324 J195
8 B. Mining & Quarrying £130m +£10m +8.3% (+4.1% to +12.8%) 200 1.7% Suppressed — under 10 RD6_2324 I8 RDS2_2324 J190
9 R. Arts, Entertainment & Recreation £125m +£15m +13.6% (+8.9% to +18.6%) 475 1.7% Suppressed — under 10 RD6_2324 I24 RDS2_2324 J206
10 S. Other services activities £110m −£5m −4.3% (−8.5% to 0.0%) 815 1.5% Suppressed — under 10 RD6_2324 I25 RDS2_2324 J207
11 A. Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing £90m +£10m +12.5% (+6.1% to +19.4%) 995 1.2% Suppressed — under 10 RD6_2324 I7 RDS2_2324 J189
12 Q. Health & Social Work £55m −£30m −35.3% (−40.0% to −30.3%) 590 0.7% Suppressed — under 10 RD6_2324 I23 RDS2_2324 J205
13 H. Transport & Storage £50m −£5m −9.1% (−17.4% to 0.0%) 330 0.7% Suppressed — under 10 RD6_2324 I14 RDS2_2324 J196
14 D. Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning £35m No change 0.0% (−13.3% to +15.4%) 180 0.5% Suppressed — under 10 RD6_2324 I10 RDS2_2324 J192
15 E. Water, Sewerage and Waste £30m −£10m −25.0% (−35.3% to −13.3%) 325 0.4% Suppressed — under 10 RD6_2324 I11 RDS2_2324 J193
15 Other or unknown £30m +£5m +20.0% (0.0% to +44.4%) 125 0.4% No cross-tab row RD6_2324 I26
17 O. Public Admin, Defence & Social Services £15m No change 0.0% (−28.6% to +40.0%) 45 0.2% Suppressed — disclosive RD6_2324 I21 RDS2_2324 J203
— I. Accommodation & Food Suppressed — under 10 Not available 150 — Suppressed — disclosive RD6_2324 I15 RDS2_2324 J197
— L. Real Estate Suppressed — under 10 Not available 110 — Suppressed — disclosive RD6_2324 I18 RDS2_2324 J200
— P. Education Suppressed — under 10 Not available 215 — Suppressed — under 10 RD6_2324 I22 RDS2_2324 J204

The leading sector in each region

HMRC's region-and-sector cross-tab is published for 12 regions, not for the 46 sub-regions, so there is no leading sector for each row of the ranking above and this page does not print one. What HMRC does publish is the sector split within each region, and a region's figures are withheld sector by sector wherever the count is small, so each row below names the largest sector HMRC published rather than the largest sector.

The largest published claiming sector by relief in each UK region, 2023-24, with the runner-up and the number of sector figures HMRC published for that region.
Region Largest published sector Relief, 2023-24 Runner-up Sectors published HMRC source
East (England) M. Professional, Scientific & Technical £390m J. Information and Communication, £145m 9 of 19 RDS2_2324 J121
East Midlands (England) C. Manufacturing £110m M. Professional, Scientific & Technical, £70m 6 of 19 RDS2_2324 J71
London J. Information and Communication £765m M. Professional, Scientific & Technical, £485m 14 of 19 RDS2_2324 J138
North East (England) C. Manufacturing £55m J. Information and Communication, £20m 3 of 19 RDS2_2324 J11
North West (England) C. Manufacturing £150m M. Professional, Scientific & Technical, £130m 8 of 19 RDS2_2324 J31
Northern Ireland Also the ITL2 sub-region of the same name C. Manufacturing £65m J. Information and Communication, £25m 5 of 19 RDS2_2324 J231
Scotland M. Professional, Scientific & Technical £95m C. Manufacturing, £90m 7 of 19 RDS2_2324 J221
South East (England) Tied: C. Manufacturing and M. Professional, Scientific & Technical £420m — 11 of 19 RDS2_2324 J151
South West (England) C. Manufacturing £130m M. Professional, Scientific & Technical, £85m 9 of 19 RDS2_2324 J171
Wales C. Manufacturing £45m M. Professional, Scientific & Technical, £25m 3 of 19 RDS2_2324 J191
West Midlands (England) C. Manufacturing £405m J. Information and Communication, £50m 7 of 19 RDS2_2324 J91
Yorkshire and The Humber C. Manufacturing £95m M. Professional, Scientific & Technical, £65m 5 of 19 RDS2_2324 J51

What this cannot show

A local-authority ranking
HMRC publishes no local-authority breakdown in this release. The finest geography available is the ITL2 sub-region.
First-time applicants by region or sub-region
First-time applicants (RD8) are published at UK level only. There is no regional split to rank.
A leading sector for each sub-region
HMRC's region-and-sector cross-tab (RDS2) is published for 12 regions, not for the 46 sub-regions. The leading sector is carried at region level instead, and the column is omitted from the sub-region tables rather than filled with the parent region's answer.
A rate measure (claims per thousand active companies)
Company counts are not in this dataset. Adding one would need a second primary source and is out of scope for this build.

Built from our published dataset, compiled 2026-09-01, from Research and Development Tax Credits Statistics: September 2025. 203 reconciliation checks run against HMRC's own totals, 203 passed. Years covered: 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24.

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