19 March 2024

City UK's Bardelai: The UK remains the world’s largest net exporter of financial services – but the underlying data show how the picture has

As our research makes clear, US financial services exports exceed those of the UK, but when the net position (exports minus imports) is considered, the UK leads because its financial services imports are considerably less than those of the US.

Our recently-launched ‘Key Facts about the UK as an international financial centre’ report found that the UK continues to record the world’s largest trade surplus in financial services. As our research makes clear, US financial services exports exceed those of the UK, but when the net position (exports minus imports) is considered, the UK leads because its financial services imports are considerably less than those of the US.

The gap between the UK’s and the US’s financial services trade surplus has narrowed over time

Additional analysis of the data over time shows that the UK’s lead over the US in terms of this trade surplus has narrowed considerably over the past decade and a half. The UK surplus has been fairly steady over this period, at around $87bn a year. At the same time, the US’s surplus has increased dramatically, from $5.4bn in 2008 to $73.2bn in 2022. 

Source: UNCTAD

This dynamic has been driven by very strong growth of US financial services exports. US financial services imports have remained relatively steady, albeit with a noticeable uptick since 2018. US financial services exports, on the other hand, more than doubled, rising from $93bn in 2008 to $190bn in 2022:

Source: UNCTAD

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