Shocking new statistics have revealed that Carmarthen East and Dinefwr is almost rock bottom of Britain’s business league tables.

Figures released by the Institute of Chartered Accounts of England and Wales’ Business Advice Service (BAS) show that the region comes 629th out of the UK’s 632 parliamentary constituencies in terms of the average annual business turnover.

Carmarthen East and Dinefwr is the third worst performer of the 40 Welsh constituencies.

The figures make particularly grim reading for Wales, with four of the UK’s five worst performing constituencies all on this side of the border - only Streatham in south London comes of worse.

Most disappointingly, Carmarthen East and Dinefwr‘s figures, which show an average business turnover of £290,502 per year, highlight a stark disparity with the region’s neighbours.

Carmarthen West produces an annual average turnover of £366,023 while Neath firms’ figures average £394,642. Companies in the Llanelli constituency boast an average turnover of £471,064.

Only the west Wales coastal constituencies of Ceredigion (£284,642) and Dwyfor Meirionnydd (£288,858) come off worse than east Carmarthenshire. The average business turnover per Welsh constituency is £430,140.

Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP Jonathan Edwards described the figures as disappointing but not surprising.

“The BAS survey confirms that the economy of rural west Wales is largely reliant on small and medium size businesses,” he said.

“With heavy industry and manufacturing decimated by the de-industrialisation policies of successive Westminster governments, and economic activity mostly focused on small market towns and not large commercial centres, the figures are disappointing but hardly surprising.

AM for the region Rhodri Glyn Thomas claimed the statistics highlighted the need for greater financial control at a local level, criticizing both Westminster and Cardiff Bay for failing rural areas.

“It would be interesting to see a comparative study of turnover on a yearly basis to see if turnover for Carmarthenshire companies is increasing or decreasing, as well as information on the number of businesses per capita for each area. This would give us a far better idea of the make-up of the local economic base.

“Direct economic control from Westminster has failed Wales for far too long, and the only alternative is to accept more tax responsibility in Wales.

“Carmarthenshire would also benefit from a change of direction to a Welsh Government that prioritises the whole of our country and not just the Cardiff and south-east area.”