The South West exported nearly £5bn of financial and professional services to Europe and the wider world in 2020 – up by a quarter over the last decade – a new report has revealed. The study from TheCityUK said the region accounted for 3.8% of the UK’s total financial services exports.
The most financial services exports were from the Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath-Bristol region (£2.5bn), according to the report, followed by Dorset and Somerset (£1.0bn), Devon (£187m) and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (£58m).
Of the South West’s financial services exports, 26% went to the EU in 2020, while the remaining 74% went to the rest of the world.
The industry body said all regions and nations across Britain generated trade surpluses in financial services in 2020, with London having the largest trade surplus (£34bn), followed by the South East (£5.1bn) and Scotland (£4.6bn).
Anjalika Bardalai, chief economist and head of research at TheCityUK, said: “As London is one of the world’s leading international financial centres, it inevitably leads the UK’s exports of financial and related professional services. But the idea that London sells these services overseas and the rest of the UK focuses on domestic activity is misleading.
“Other regions, including South West, make important contributions to exports of financial and related professional services, demonstrating the vital economic role the industry plays across all parts of the country. In addition, as the UK braces for an economic storm, the surplus generated by financial and related professional services provides an important buffer against the risks of a widening trade deficit.”
Overall, Britain exported 71% of its financial and professional services to non-EU countries in 2020, with the remaining 29% going to the EU. The US was the UK’s largest destination for financial services exports, accounting for 34%. Other notable non-EU destinations for industry exports were Japan (3.5%) and Canada (3.4%), TheCityUK said.
Katharine Finn, TheCityUK South West regional chair and partner at Pw Bristol, said, “This report shows the growth in financial and related professional services exports from South West over the last decade to 2020. It underlines the important contribution this industry makes to our national economy, driving growth and creating jobs.”
