FAMILY incomes are on the rise in most of the region, official figures show - but at a slower pace than in most of the country.

Household disposable income per head crept up by just 0.8 per cent in the North-East between 2012 and 2013, below the one per cent rise across the United Kingdom.

And the North-East was left in the slow lane by both Scotland (up two per cent) and the West Midlands (up 2.3 per cent) as the economy bounced back, as well as by Yorkshire (up 1.4 per cent).

But households in London and the South-East (both up 0.6 per cent) saw incomes grow more slowly – even though overall growth was far higher than in the North-East in both areas.

The statistics also reveal striking local variations in the changes in gross disposable household income (GDHI), the amount available for spending or saving after taxes and benefits.

Incomes grew sharply in Darlington (3.5 per cent) and South Teesside (2.6 per cent) and were also up in North Yorkshire (two per cent) and Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees (1.9 per cent).

But growth was more sluggish in County Durham (1.3 per cent) – and fell markedly in both Sunderland (3.1 per cent) and York (3.3 per cent).

And disposable incomes in the North-East are as little as one-third of those in the plushest parts of London, where the figures surged ahead between 2012 and 2013.

In Westminster, the average GDHI was £42,221 in 2013 – almost three times the figure of £14,659 in County Durham and the highest of 173 local areas analysed.

And incomes in Kensington and Chelsea/Hammersmith and Fulham (£42,116), Camden and City of London (£37,324) and Wandsworth (£35,237) were not far behind.

Matt Whittaker, chief economist at the Resolution Foundation think-tank, said: “Regional inequalities have fallen since the crash, but the gap between the South East and the UK is stark.”

Experts believe disposal income – the amount people have to spend after the bills have been paid – is the best measure of the economic confidence of families and individuals.

The rising figures in most areas were thought to reflect low interest rates and low inflation offsetting disappointing wage rises, perhaps helping to return David Cameron to No.10 earlier this month.

There was welcome news for the North-East which enjoyed the second highest growth in the number of businesses (14.7 per cent), behind only London (17.9 per cent).

And the region boasted the fastest fall in the unemployment claimant count, according to the Office of National Statistics.

But the North-East also saw the biggest fall in foreign exports of goods between 2012 and 2013 (10.3 per cent), the figures showed.