Responding to the ONS data on foreign direct investment (FDI), Chris Cummings, Chief Executive at TheCityUK, said:
“Figures released this morning by the Office for National Statistics show that the UK continues to be a key destination for financial services investments. Foreign companies have invested nearly £100bn into the UK financial services sector since the start of the economic slowdown in 2007, more than in any other sector. In fact, the financial services sector accounted for nearly a third of all FDI into the UK during this period.
“In 2012, inflows of FDI into the UK related to financial services picked up, increasing from £7.1bn to £9.4bn. UK outflows abroad decreased to £4.4bn in 2012 from £14.4bn in the previous year, largely due to decreases in net investment to European financial services companies. TheCityUK expects a further recovery in inward FDI in financial services in 2013, to between £15bn and £20bn, a four year high. We would like these positive trends to be realised, and it is vital for the UK to retain its attractiveness. The implications of Scottish referendum and the EU referendum cannot be overlooked.
“The importance of international business undertaken by financial organisations in the UK is demonstrated by the financial and related professional service trade surplus of £55bn in 2012, estimated by TheCityUK to have increased by 10% in 2013 to a record £61bn. This has helped to offset the UK’s trade in goods deficit of over £100bn. The financial and related professional services trade surplus is larger than the combined surplus of all other net exporting industries in the UK. The UK is the largest exporter of financial services in the world. Its trade surplus in financial services is more than double that of the next largest trade surpluses recorded by the US, Switzerland and Luxembourg.”