The 20 best countries to invest money in named with UK at number 13 | Personal Finance | Finance
Rachel Reeves is expected to use her first Mansion House speech in the City of London to spell out the Government’s next steps to fix the economy.
The Chancellor will pitch economic growth by unlocking private sector investment, including in Britain’s financial services industry.
Ms Reeves will promote Labour’s plan despite business warnings that changes to the amount employers pay in National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will result in job losses and business failures.
Fourteen UKHospitality board members and another 209 businesses, including JD Wetherspoon, have warned the Chancellor that many firms will now have to reconsider investment and “drastically” cut jobs and hours.
This suggests Labour’s moves to boost investment in UK Plc may fall flat as Ms Reeves uses Budget measures to balance the Government’s books on the backs of British businesses.
According to an analysis by usnews.com, the UK ranks 13th out of 88 states on its list of the best countries to invest in.
Britain is behind top-placed China, the US, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland, Qatar, Canada, the Netherlands and Denmark.
In descending order, the UK is followed by Norway, Sweden, Australia, Belgium, France, Ireland and Luxembourg.
The same publication puts the UK’s GDP at £ 2.585 trillion ($3.34tn) and hails the country as “highly developed” while exerting “considerable” influence on the world stage in terms of economics, politics, science, and culture.
Britain’s GDP is dwarfed by China’s, which usnews.com puts at £13.7tn ($17.8tn), and the United States, with its Gross Domestic Product of £21.2tn ($27.4tn).
Last month, the International Monetary Fund lifted its forecast for UK GDP growth in 2024 from 0.7% to 1.1%. It left its forecast for UK GDP growth in 2025 unchanged at 1.5%.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development raised its forecast for UK GDP growth this year from 0.4% to 1.1% and lifted its forecast for 2025 from 1.0% to 1.2%.
This compares to the Office for Budget Responsibility, which forecasts GDP growth of 2% next year.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Ms Reeves have repeatedly voiced an ambition to grow Britain’s economy, telling business leaders at a summit last month that the Government will encourage more investment to scale up firms.
That included pledges to rip up red tape to get projects up and running as long as more funding is poured into the UK.
The Government hailed a “vote of confidence in the UK” after businesses committed to invest £63billion during October’s International Investment Summit.
But about a quarter of the amount appeared to have been “secured or initiated” before Labour swept to victory in July’s general election, according to a report in the Guardian.
Ms Reeves has said the only way to drive economic growth is to “invest, invest, invest”, but the OBR has said tax increases will partly lead to a “crowding out” of business investment, which would have a 0.2% negative impact on economic growth in the medium-term.
How the election of Donald Trump will impact the economy after the president-elect threatened to impose tariffs of 10% on imports from other countries during his campaign is also yet to be seen.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research warned ahead of Mr Trump’s sweeping victory that the UK could post economic growth of just 0.4% next year if such tariffs were introduced.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said on Sunday (November 10) that Whitehall officials will be “considering lots of different scenarios” about the possible impact of Trump tariffs.
According to the World of Statistics, usnews.com’s ranking is based on a global survey of about 4,400 respondents considered “business decision-makers.”
The list is based on these respondents’ perceptions of countries in terms of eight attributes: corruption, dynamism, economic stability, entrepreneurialism, taxation, innovation, skilled labour force and technological expertise.
