Statistics on UK Trade

The Greater London Authority (GLA) welcomes the chance to respond to the UK Statistics Authority’s inquiry into the quality of statistics, their accessibility and the way that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) engages with users of the statistics. The GLA has long-running concerns about the lack of available regional level services trade statistics. The lack of a regional breakdown or a regional version of a broad number of UK-wide statistics has hindered analysis of London’s economy both within the GLA and by the national government, which given the size of London’s economy (representing over 20 per cent of the UK’s total output) is detrimental to a detailed analysis and understanding of the UK’s economy as a whole.