The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published the estimates of the financial and societal value of natural resources to people in the UK. Key figures include that the total asset value of ecosystem services in the UK was around £1.8 trillion in 2022, an increase of 11% since 2018 and that health benefits from recreation made the largest contribution to the total asset value of UK ecosystem services, at £489 billion in 2022.

The total asset value of water as a provisioning service is £141 billion, and the annual value of the services provided by water is over £5 billion.

Photo credit: Stephen Noulton