The United States has overtaken the European Union as a major destination for the United Kingdom's financial services exports after Brexit, a lobby group representing UK-based financial and related professional services said on Wednesday
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th December, 2021) The United States has overtaken the European Union as a major destination for the United Kingdom's financial services exports after Brexit, a lobby group representing UK-based financial and related professional services said on Wednesday.
TheCityUK's annual report "Key facts about the UK as an international financial centre," showed that in 2020, the year London and Brussels parted ways following the signing of the Withdrawal Agreement, the US accounted for 34.2% of sector exports, while exports to the EU fell to 30% compared to the previous year.
During that period of time, financial services exports to the European bloc were down 6.6% to 24.7 billion ($32.6 billion), while exports to non-EU countries rose by 4.1% to 57.7 billion ($76.3 billion), with exports to the US rising by 5.3%, it added.
The lobby group also said that the total value of UK financial services exports remained stable in 2020, at 82.4 billion ($109 billion) despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as global markets rebounded strongly in the second half of the year.
"This report demonstrates the resilience and adaptability of the industry in the face of acute challenges and changes brought about by both Brexit and the pandemic," TheCityUK chief economist and head of research Anjalika Bardalai, was quoted as saying.
According to the annual review, the UK banking sector assets totaled $14.3 trillion at the end of the first half of 2021, the third largest in the world and the largest in Europe, ahead of France ($13.2 trillion), Germany ($11.2 trillion) and Italy ($4.8 trillion).
