London’s economic growth: The capital leads the way as a wealth maker
London’s economy is outstripping the rest of the country, growing 3.3 per cent year on year, compared with a national average of 2.5 per cent, according to RBS’ regional growth figures out today.
London’s economic growth was boosted by its burgeoning professional, scientific and technical services industries. The City and the West End, unsurprisingly, were London’s hot-spots of growth, with the City recording 5.1 per cent growth compared with 2014.
Year on year growth within London was up 0.1 percentage points from 2014, and there was a 0.4 per cent increase in the second quarter of 2015 compared to the first three months.
RBS chief economist Stephen Boyle told Morning Wire:
“London has got a substantial endowment of tech and professional services firms, sectors which have been doing well across the UK as a whole, and the capital especially has benefitted from high activity levels in those sectors. Success begets success. And, London’s companies are better quality, on average, because they face more competition than elsewhere.”
UK growth, excluding erratic figures for off-shore oil and gas industries, slowed marginally from this time last year, when there was three per cent growth. However the UK economy grew 0.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2015 compared with the first.
Boyle added: “Local devolution would boost the performance of regions, but it’s not a zero-sum game. And stronger regional bases can interact with a strong London economy and make the whole pie bigger.”
Yorkshire and the Humber had especially slow growth, 0.3 per cent compared the second quarter, thanks to their heavy reliance on manufacturing industry. which remains below pre-recession levels.