London's Economy Today - Issue 198 - February 2019

The overview

• Evidence mounts that uncertainty around Brexit is damaging the UK economy
• The economic slowdown is not affecting all parts of the economy equally
• Worries about the strength of the global economy as Eurozone slows

Economic indicators

• The annual change in TfL passenger journeys remains negative for the eleventh consecutive period, with the moving average annual growth rate in the total number of passenger journeys standing at -0.7%, although this was up from the -0.9% seen in the previous period.
• The new business PMI index in London declined in January 2019 with it standing at 46.1, compared to 50.2 in December 2018. An index reading above 50.0 indicates an increase in new orders from the previous month, while a reading below 50.0 indicates a decline in new orders.
• Consumer confidence in London was more negative in January, with the GfK index of consumer confidence standing at -6 in January 2019, down from -1 in December 2018.

London’s Economy Today supplement: An update on London’s exports: trend, composition and by local authority

• London’s exports increased from £126bn in 2011 to £149bn in 2016 with almost all of the increase occurring after 2014.
• London has a stronger export orientation, and markedly stronger service export orientation than the rest of the UK. While London accounts for nearly half of UK service exports, it only accounts for 11% of goods exports, and for around 27% of all UK exports.
• Five sectors account for 87% of London’s service exports. These are: Financial (28%); Real estate and professional services (17%); Information and communication (17%); Travel (16%); and Transport (9%).

London’s Economy Today data on the Datastore

• The main economic indicators for London are available to download from the Datastore.