London leads the way in booming services exports
First published on KensingtonHouse.com on 1 April 2024. Figures, forecasts and quotations reflect that date and have not been updated. Read it as a record of the market at the time, not as a current view.
Recent research from the Resolution Foundation has shown that services now account for a record share of Britain’s total exports – with London by far the biggest driver of the boom. Services sectors accounted for 56% of exports in the third quarter of 2023, compared with just 30% in 1997.
“London’s services exports grew by 47% from 2016 to 2021, more than double the UK average rate”
Emily Fry, an economist at the Resolution Foundation, said services exports were one of Britain’s “secret economic success stories”, but added that “major cities outside London have failed to share in this growth”.
Services exports from the capital grew 47% to £152.2 billion between 2016 and 2021 – more than double the UK average rate. London’s strong export performance was broad-based and no longer heavily reliant on the financial sector, the research remarked. The capital’s information and communication services exports rose by an average of 15% per year between 2016 and 2021, while professional services grew 12% per year. Exports of financial services grew by 8% per year.
Separate ONS figures have shown that the capital’s economy has been growing faster than other parts of the country since the Covid pandemic, widening the income gap between Londoners and the rest of the country. This kind of data demonstrates why London remains such a desirable place to live and work for well-paid professionals from a variety of industries and why its property commands such a premium, with average house prices in the capital sitting at twice the national average.
Original publication: kensingtonhouse.com, 1 April 2024. The organisations quoted are named in the text; their figures are reported as they stood on the publication date.