Economy of London

(Bishopsgate in the City of London)

By GDP, London was in 2005 the sixth largest city in the world and the second largest in Europe after Paris. Greater London generates approximately 20% of GDP in the United Kingdom, and the metropolitan area of London about a third. Productivity is well above the national average. Strongly tertiarised, London has a strong specialization in finance. The British capital is the largest financial market in the world and a major international business centers. Immigration plays a major role, it affects people in very different qualifications, but a feature of the city is its ability to attract high incomes.

Economic inequality is high. London has many pockets of poverty, and unemployment is higher than the national average (5.5% in the UK in the second quarter of 2006 against 7.7% in London and to over 10% in some areas Inner London) and 53% of children in these neighborhoods live in a state of poverty.

Attractiveness

The London economy is more service-oriented than other European cities, especially after the Second World War. The success of London in the tertiary sector was mainly due to several factors:

• English is a language of international communication
• its position as capital of the British Empire
• its special relationship with the United States and several countries in Asia
• its geographical position that allows its office hours to match those of other countries that account for 99% of global GDP
• English law is the law of contract as used in international trade
• multicultural infrastructure (schools, places of worship, cultural and social organizations)
• level of tax relatively low especially for foreigners (non-domiciled residents in the UK do not pay tax on profits earned abroad) – however, the county tax paid each month is very high (about 100-150 pounds / month / unit)
• good transport infrastructure, especially in airport traffic
• deregulated economy with little government intervention.

Tourism

London is one of the main tourist destinations in the world. This sector generates between 280,000 and 350,000 jobs according to sources. In 2008, 26.1 million tourists visited London, representing revenues of £ 10.5 billion. Of these 26.1 million tourists, 14.8 million were from overseas.

London enjoys its status as English capital in Europe and each year attracts many mainland students coming to learn English. An important student tourism economy has developed around this windfall, some did not hesitate to take advantage of practices to the limits of legality.

Major London attractions are concentrated in the West End, which includes department stores of Oxford Street, theaters and neighborhoods such as Soho, Covent Garden, Mayfair, Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square Square. The most famous landmarks in London are the British Museum, the Tate Gallery, the Tate Modern, Madame Tussauds, the Palace of Westminster and Buckingham, the Imperial War Museum, the Science Museum, the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, the Tower Bridge, Big Ben, the Tower of London, London Eye, St Paul’s Cathedral and Arsenal Football Club Museum.

Translated from Wikipedia