High-pressure torsion (HPT) was applied to discs of pure Ti and Zr under pressures of 2 and 6 GPa, and the evolution of electrical resistivity was investigated. The electrical resistivity increased with increasing the distance from the disc centre in both Ti and Zr, but the distribution of electrical resistivity became more homogenous with increasing the number of HPT turns, i.e. with increasing the shear strain. The electrical resistivity increased more significantly when Ti and Zr were processed under 6 GPa because of the formation of high-pressure omega phase. The distribution of hardness with distance from disc centre and number of HPT turns were basically similar to those of electrical resistivity distribution. In situ electrical resistivity measurements during heating confirmed that the omega-Zr phase was thermally more stable than the omega-Ti phase.