Long term competitiveness

Key facts about UK-based financial and related professional services 2025

15 May 2025
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This latest addition of our ‘Key facts about UK-based financial and related professional services 2025’, annual research report explores the important contribution the industry makes to the UK economy. This comes at an important time as the UK and the world continue to adjust to an apparent re-shaping of the framework for global trade and thus, a potential paradigm shift in global economic growth.

The report uses the latest available data to explore the contributions of the numerous industry components and sub-components, including banking, insurance, legal services and accounting, to name just a few. The sectors’ various activities are quantified, demonstrating their role in areas like mortgage lending, corporate fundraising through equity finance and infrastructure financing, among others.

Highlights from the report:

Almost
2.5 million
people in the UK worked in financial and related professional services in 2023

Financial services had
1.1 million
people in employment:

• Banking – 377,000
• Insurance – 306,000
• Fund management – 74,000
• Other financial services – 343,000

Related professional services had almost
1.4 million
people in employment:

• Management consultancy - 532,000
• Accountancy - 493,000
• Legal services - 364,000

Enhancing customer experiences through digital financial services

Annual transactions made with contactless payment cards were up 7.6% in 2023 to
18.3bn

• In 2023, the number of payments via the Faster Payments Services (FPS) reached 4.9bn

• 45% of all business-to-business payments were done using FPS or another remote banking system

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