LONDON is “leading the way” in Britain’s economic recovery, experts say – scotching David Cameron’s pledge to “rebalance the economy” to the North.

The booming capital and wider South-East have enjoyed much higher growth than the rest of England and are creating far more jobs, official statistics show.

However, the figures also show the North-East’s economy strongly on the mend and growing faster than most other English regions – and quicker than Scotland. And they suggest that household income is rising more sharply across the region than in London.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produced the bulletin after repeated promises by ministers to shift investment and prosperity away from London and from financial services.

The growth figures cover the three years from 2009 to 2012 – before the recent economic upturn – but they show the familiar North-South divide continuing and widening further.

Over the three years, London’s gross value added (GVA) rose by 11.1 per cent, just ahead of the South-East region which grew by 10.5 per cent.

Both figures comfortably exceed the North-East’s performance (up 7.7 per cent), although it left both Yorkshire (up 4.5 per cent) and Scotland (up 3.6 per cent) in the shade.

In the years after the 2010 general election, the Coalition was criticised for a “flatlining” economy overall, while banking and financial services bounced back quickly from the Crash.

The ONS said the economy was improving across the UK, but concluded: “The latest regional data show London leading the way.

“London has outperformed the rest of the UK during both the period of the recovery and, even more so, when considering the period through both the economic downturn and recovery.”

The jobs figures cover the most recent period – from April 2013 to April 2014 – during which unemployment has remained stubbornly high in the North-East, while falling sharply elsewhere.

They show that the overall number of “workforce jobs” leapt impressively in London (up 5.4 per cent) and in the South-East (up four per cent) – where unemployment is negligible anyway.

But jobs growth was much more sluggish in Yorkshire (up 1.9 per cent) and the total number available actually fell in the North-East (down 1.1 per cent).

But the tables are – perhaps surprisingly - turned when it comes to after-tax, disposable household income, looking at the first two years of Coalition rule, between 2010 and 2012.

The figures show households were better off in London (up 4.8 per cent), but both the North-East (up 5.9 per cent) and Yorkshire (up 5.3 per cent).

Household incomes in the South-East (up 5.5 per cent) grew faster than in Yorkshire, but not as sharply as in the North-East.

However, at £21,466, incomes in London still far exceed those in the North-East (£14,393) and Yorkshire (£14,575).