With international trade on the rise and Covid restrictions finally being lifted, all signs point to London’s economy booming in the next quarter of 2021 thanks to a flurry of overseas orders and the removal of Covid restrictions.
The NatWest London Business Activity Index has been showing improvements in the manufacturing and service sectors, with London’s economy experiencing a significant increase in the last two quarters.
And this year, The Forbes Global 2000 list of the world’s largest companies has grown by 20%. The companies on the list span a wide range of industries, from technology to food and beverage.
It is not just the upturn of global trade that has contributed to this increase in optimism; there’s also been an ever-increasing demand for consumer goods, which has led to a rise in orders from business customers.
The rise in demand has been mainly due to consumers having more money to spend and more room for spending savings because of low inflation rates, and access to fast credit.
With the combination of low inflation rates mixed with increased consumer spending many companies have been able to increase their prices without sacrificing orders, as global demand rises, and supply in multiple industries remain tight.
Higher oil prices and global economic fragility have also caused what economists feel is a temporary inflationary trend that will continue into the summer in supply-constrained economies around the world with costs in London also rising. However business optimism is outweighing inflation concerns for now.
