London's Economy Today - Issue 187 - March 2018

The overview

• Economic forecasts for the UK remain broadly unchanged over the next few years.
• CPIH inflation in February reached its lowest rate in 12 months.
• London remains the leading global financial centre.

Economic indicators

• Annual contraction in passenger journeys ceases with the moving average annual growth rate in the total number of passenger journeys increasing to 0.0 per cent from -0.3 per cent in the previous period. This is the first non-negative rate in more than two years.
• Stronger growth in new business in London with the PMI New Business Index at 53.8 in London in February, up from 51.7 in January. UK firms reported an index of 55.5 in February, compared to the 53.8 in January. An index reading above 50.0 indicates an increase in new orders from the previous month.
• Most surveyors continue to have negative expectations for the next three months on house prices in London although the RICS index increased from -29 in January to -18 in February.

London’s Economy Today supplement: Regional, sub-regional and local gross value added estimates for London, 1997-2016

• The latest data, using the income approach (GVA (I)), show that London’s total GVA was almost £396 billion in 2016, up 4.4% in nominal terms on 2015.
• London accounted for 22.7% of the UK’s total GVA in 2016 (up from 18.5% in 1997).
• It was also the region with the highest GVA (I) per head in the UK at £45,046 for 2016, 69.4% higher than the UK average which was £26,584.
• Over two-thirds of London’s GVA (I) was produced in Inner London in 2016, with Inner London - West alone accounting for 42.6% of the total.

London’s Economy Today data on the Datastore

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