Our statutory purpose is to promote awareness of the social and economic needs of people who live and work in rural areas and help decision-makers across and beyond government identify how those needs can best be addressed. More…

› 9.8 million people lived in rural England in 2009.

› In 2010, the mean annual household income was £37,513 in rural areas (unequivalised).

› The average rural house cost 6.0 times the average annual rural household income in 2009.

› Approximately 700,000 rural households lived below the poverty line in 2008/09.

› 847,000 rural households lived in fuel poverty in 2008.

(Taken from 10 Big Numbers.)