The Metropolis

Why the Europe furore matters to Londoners

Mike Pollitt | Tuesday 13 December, 2011 10:29

●

Money, of course.

The city sells more than twice the value of stuff to Europe (the top line in the chart) as it does to North America or Asia. If Europe goes tits up, we won’t be far behind.

For example, over £1bn worth of clothes are shipped out of London each year. 11% of that goes to Italy, and 5% to Greece. If they stop buying there, jobs start going here. This is why this stuff matters, because it will ultimately affect how much money you have to spend on beer and boxsets.

Chart and data taken from Melisa Wickham’s paper for GLA Economics – An analysis of London’s exports (pdf)

Bonus fact – the European country which spends the most money buying London’s goods is Belgium. Diamonds mostly, I suspect. Good old Belgium.

Filed in:

Snipe Highlights

Some popular articles from past years

  1. Hope and despair in Woolwich town centre
  2. Summer Camp: Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days
  3. The best church names in London, and where they come from
  4. A unique collection of photos of Edwardian Londoners
  5. Random Interview: Eileen Conn, co-ordinator of Peckham Vision
  6. Margaret Thatcher statue rejected by public
  7. The five best places in London to have an epiphany
  8. London has chosen its mayor, but why can’t it choose its own media?
  9. An interview with Desiree Akhavan
  10. Number of people using Thames cable car plunges