Financial services: contribution to the UK economy

This paper provides information on the economic output of the financial services sector and international comparisons; the number of jobs in the sector; statistics on the sector’s exports and imports; and the amount of tax it contributes to the Exchequer.

In 2021, the financial services sector contributed £173.6 billion to the UK economy, 8.3% of total economic output. The sector was largest in London, where around half of the sector’s output was generated.

The UK financial services sector was the fourth largest in the OECD in 2021 by its proportion of national economic output. Luxembourg’s financial service sector was the largest in the OECD, contributing 25% of the country’s economic output.

There were 1.08 million financial services jobs in the UK in Q1 2022, 3.0% of all jobs.

Exports of UK financial services were worth £61.3 billion in 2021 and imports were worth £16.6 billion, so there was a surplus in financial services trade of £44.7 billion.

UK exports of financial services to the EU have fallen notably since 2018 – between 2018 and 2021, the value of UK exports of financial services to the EU fell by 19% in cash terms, while exports of financial services to non-EU countries grew by 4%. In Q1 2022, the EU accounted for 34% of UK financial services exports and the USA accounted for 31%.

Taxes on the financial services industry raised £28.8 billion in 2020/21, 4.1% of all taxes collected that year according to data from HMRC. Research from PwC for the City of London Corporation using a broader measure of taxes reported that the financial sector contributed £75.6 billion in taxes in the year to March 2020, 10% of total government receipts in 2019/20.

There are a several other sources of information on the financial services sector. City UK represents the interests of the financial services sector in the UK and publishes an annual assessment of the economic impact of the UK financial services sector, most recently in July 2022:
Key Facts about UK-based financial and related professional services.