A surge of foreign direct investment in the UK resulted in the launch of 1,853 new projects in the 2019/20 tax year, it has been revealed.
The figures – published by the Department for International Trade ahead of the end of the Brexit transitional period – represent a four per cent increase in inward investment compared to the previous year.
According to the report, the USA continued to be the UK’s “number one source” of foreign direct investment in 2019/20, launching 462 projects off the ground and generating 20,131 new jobs alone.
India, meanwhile, has risen to the number two spot, overtaking Germany, France, and China and Hong Kong.
Honourable mentions were also awarded to Australia and New Zealand and the Nordic and Baltic region, whose inward investment – defined as an investment in the form of a controlling ownership in a business in one country by an entity based in another country – launched 72 and 134 projects, respectively.
Commenting on the figures, International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said: “These figures further demonstrate the resilience of the UK economy and the work of the Government to continue to build and attract inward investment into the UK.
“Future trade agreements will deepen our economic relationship with key sources of investment such as the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.”
The study comes after recent research, published by Forbes, found that the UK was the “top country for doing business in” based on 15 different factors, from property rights to investor protection.
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