Anjalika Bardalai, chief economist at TheCityUK, said financial and related professional services remain one of the UK’s greatest strengths, accounting for almost 40% of all services exports and 22% of total UK exports. Read more:While the sale of British goods abroad fell in 2023 by 3.6%, total services exports continued to grow strongly, up by 14% to £465bn. Financial and related professional services accounting for almost 40% of all services exports, while in Scotland the goods and services exports were relatively balanced. "Scotland plays a particularly important role in this success: industry exports from Scotland reached £12bn in 2023, rising by more than 16% year-on-year – one of the fastest growth rates anywhere in Britain," Ms Bardalai said. TheCityUK noted that financial services exports for Northern Ireland in 2023 totalled £2.2bn but there is was enough data to estimate related professional services exports.

Source: The Herald March 26, 2026 16:31 UTC