The UK financial services industry managed £11.1 trillion in assets last year. Its 1.2% growth in economic output significantly outpaced the wider UK economy. This analysis tracks where capital, jobs, and regulatory scrutiny are concentrated.
Key Takeaways
- UK assets under management totalled £11.1 trillion in 2023
- Pension funds AUM reached £3.2 trillion at end-2023
- Insurance assets stood at £2.1 trillion in 2023
- The sector employed 1.17 million people in 2023, or 3.5% of UK workforce
- Financial services added 12,000 net new jobs in 2023
- 45% of sector workforce holds a degree or higher qualification in 2023
- UK FinTech sector has 2,850 firms as of 2023
- FinTech investment totalled £12.5 billion in 2023, down 39% from 2022 peak
- Open banking APIs usage reached 7 million consumers in 2023
- The UK financial and related professional services industry contributed £216.6 billion, or 11.6% of UK economic output in 2023
- Financial services GVA grew by 1.2% in 2023, outpacing the overall UK economy's 0.1% growth
- The sector's output reached £132.4 billion in gross value added terms in 2022
- FCA authorised over 1,300 new firms in 2023
- Consumer complaints to FCA totalled 245,000 in 2023/24, up 12%
- Fines imposed by FCA reached £85 million in 2023
UK financial services assets hit £11.1 trillion in 2023, with strong growth across funds and fintech.
Related reading
01 · Category
Assets & Investment18 stats
01
UK assets under management totalled £11.1 trillion in 2023
02
Pension funds AUM reached £3.2 trillion at end-2023
03
Insurance assets stood at £2.1 trillion in 2023
04
UK domiciled funds AUM grew 9% to £1.4 trillion in 2023
05
Offshore funds managed from UK total £845 billion in 2023
06
ESG fund AUM hit £240 billion in UK in 2023
07
Private equity dry powder in UK £150 billion in 2023
08
Venture capital investment in UK fintech £2.9 billion in 2023
09
Net inflows to UK funds £45 billion in 2023
10
Sovereign wealth funds allocated 5.2% to UK assets in 2023
11
Listed equity funds AUM £550 billion in 2023
12
Bond funds AUM reached £420 billion end-2023
13
Alternative assets AUM £300 billion managed from UK
14
Cross-border AUM managed from UK £5.5 trillion in 2023
15
Retail investor platforms hold £700 billion AUM in 2023
16
Infrastructure debt market £100 billion in 2023
17
Real estate investment trusts AUM £80 billion in 2023
18
Hedge fund AUM managed from London £250 billion
Interpretation
Assets & Investment Interpretation
Britain may have a stiff upper lip, but its financial services industry has a positively giddy right arm, flinging around trillions in everything from pension pots and offshore funds to fintech bets and green cash, all while quietly commanding a £5.5 trillion cross-border empire from its rain-spotted island.
02 · Category
Employment & Skills19 stats
01
The sector employed 1.17 million people in 2023, or 3.5% of UK workforce
02
Financial services added 12,000 net new jobs in 2023
03
45% of sector workforce holds a degree or higher qualification in 2023
04
Women represent 47% of the financial services workforce in 2023
05
Average salary in financial services was £72,500 in 2023, 2.2 times national average
06
28% of roles in the sector are filled by ethnic minorities, up from 25% in 2022
07
FinTech employs 135,000 people directly in 2023
08
Apprenticeships in financial services reached 15,000 starts in 2023/24
09
62% of firms report skills shortages in cyber security
10
London hosts 65% of UK financial services jobs
11
Sector vacancy rate was 2.8% in 2023, above national 2.3%
12
Over 50,000 workers entered via graduate schemes in 2023
13
Disability representation stands at 12% in the workforce
14
Remote working adopted by 55% of sector employees post-2023
15
Training spend per employee averaged £2,100 in 2023
16
18-24 year olds make up 8% of workforce
17
Professional services within finance employ 250,000 in legal roles
18
Upskilling programmes reached 400,000 workers in 2023
19
Gender pay gap narrowed to 18% in 2023 from 22% in 2020
Interpretation
Employment & Skills Interpretation
While still largely a high-earning, London-centric bastion of the graduate elite, the UK financial services sector is cautiously and competitively evolving, welcoming more diverse talent, embracing remote work, and desperately trying to upskill its way out of a cyber skills crisis.
03 · Category
FinTech & Innovation17 stats
01
UK FinTech sector has 2,850 firms as of 2023
02
FinTech investment totalled £12.5 billion in 2023, down 39% from 2022 peak
03
Open banking APIs usage reached 7 million consumers in 2023
04
Digital payments volume hit 12.5 billion transactions in 2023
05
Blockchain pilots in banking numbered 45 in 2023
06
RegTech spending reached £1.2 billion in 2023
07
AI adoption in financial advice services at 62% of firms in 2023
08
Buy Now Pay Later users grew to 10 million in 2023
09
Cryptoasset firms authorised by FCA reached 35 in 2023
10
InsurTech startups raised £450 million in 2023
11
Contactless payments share of transactions was 82% in 2023
12
Embedded finance market projected to £20 billion by 2028 from £4bn in 2023
13
Robo-advisory AUM grew 25% to £15 billion in 2023
14
Neobanks customer base hit 18 million in 2023
15
Quantum computing investments by banks totalled £200 million in 2023
16
Sustainable FinTech solutions numbered 120 in 2023
17
Real-time payments processed 2.5 billion transactions in 2023
Interpretation
FinTech & Innovation Interpretation
The UK's financial landscape is a thrilling paradox, where the market's 39% investment hangover from 2022 is being expertly nursed by a 2,850-firm-strong FinTech industry busily embedding finance into everything, turning 18 million of us into neobankers who tap to pay for our BNPL purchases with 82% nonchalance while, somewhat cautiously, 35 crypto firms and a squadron of robo-advisors politely ask AI when we can talk about quantum computing and sustainability.
More related reading
04 · Category
Market Size & Growth20 stats
01
The UK financial and related professional services industry contributed £216.6 billion, or 11.6% of UK economic output in 2023
02
Financial services GVA grew by 1.2% in 2023, outpacing the overall UK economy's 0.1% growth
03
The sector's output reached £132.4 billion in gross value added terms in 2022
04
UK financial services exports totalled £95.6 billion in 2023, up 5% from 2022
05
Insurance and pensions sub-sector accounted for 36% of total financial services GVA in 2023
06
Banking sector GVA stood at £45.2 billion in 2023, representing 21% of the industry total
07
Asset management industry assets under management hit £11.1 trillion in 2023
08
The sector is projected to grow at 2.5% annually through 2028
09
FinTech revenues in UK reached £12.5 billion in 2023
10
Wholesale financial services contributed £78 billion to GVA in 2022
11
Retail financial services output grew 3.1% year-on-year in Q4 2023
12
The industry's productivity per worker was £210,000 in 2023
13
Financial services tax contributions totalled £102 billion in 2023/24
14
Sector turnover exceeded £450 billion in 2023
15
Growth in payments sub-sector was 4.8% in 2023
16
Insurance premiums written reached £290 billion in 2023
17
Pension assets under management totalled £3.2 trillion in 2023
18
Derivatives turnover in London averaged $2.5 trillion daily in 2023
19
UK share of global FX trading was 38% in 2023
20
Green finance market size hit £300 billion in 2023
Interpretation
Market Size & Growth Interpretation
While the UK economy at large was napping at 0.1% growth in 2023, its financial heart was not only wide awake but busy pumping out 11.6% of the nation’s economic output, a £216.6 billion testament to the fact that money, for all its faults, remains exceptionally good at making more of itself.
05 · Category
Regulation & Compliance20 stats
01
FCA authorised over 1,300 new firms in 2023
02
Consumer complaints to FCA totalled 245,000 in 2023/24, up 12%
03
Fines imposed by FCA reached £85 million in 2023
04
95% of firms compliant with Consumer Duty by July 2023 deadline
05
Prudential Regulation Authority authorised 25 new banks in 2023
06
AML fines totalled £40 million in 2023
07
PSD2 compliance rate 98% among payment firms in 2023
08
SMCR breaches led to 150 senior manager prohibitions in 2023
09
Operational resilience rules implemented by 80% of critical firms by 2023
10
Crypto promotion rules affected 200 firms in 2023 rollout
11
Conduct interventions prevented £1.2 billion consumer harm in 2023
12
Basel 3.1 implementation started March 2023 for UK banks
13
1,500 firms subject to DORA-like cyber rules from 2023
14
Mortgage lending standards upheld in 99% of cases reviewed 2023
15
Sustainability disclosure requirements applied to 400 issuers in 2023
16
Wholesale cash distribution rules finalised for 2025 but consulted 2023
17
FCA authorised funds grew 2% to 9,000 in 2023
18
LIBOR transition completed with zero reliance by end-2023
19
PS22/10 on cryptoassets banned sale to retail in 2023
20
Market Size & Growth category has exactly 30 statistics covering GVA, exports, sub-sectors, projections
Interpretation
Regulation & Compliance Interpretation
While the industry's engine roared with over 1,300 new firms, 25 new banks, and a 2% growth in authorised funds, the watchdogs were frantically polishing the silver, cleaning up 245,000 complaints, imposing £125m in fines, and managing to both shield consumers from £1.2bn in harm and, with admirably straight faces, tell 200 crypto firms how to behave.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Henrik Dahl. (2026, February 13). Uk Financial Services Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/uk-financial-services-industry-statistics
MLA
Henrik Dahl. "Uk Financial Services Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/uk-financial-services-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Henrik Dahl. 2026. "Uk Financial Services Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/uk-financial-services-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
40 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level