UK financial sector: total financial services employment in the UK 2001-2020

Between 2001 to 2020, employment in the financial services sector in the United Kingdom (UK) has fallen. In 2020, the total number of people employed in this sector in the UK amounted to approximately 1.1 million. This was a decrease compared to pre-global recession figures, when on the British market there were 1.2 million people employed in all subsectors of financial services. These figures have decreased as a result of the crisis and closure of bank branches across the country, to approximately 1.1 million in 2010, but since then they noted a rocky few years fluctuating between nearly 1.15 and 1.1 million employees.

The closing of bank branches

The increasing usage of online banking has resulted in a large number of bank branch closures in the United Kingdom. Many banks have seen dramatic declines in their number of branches in the last few years. The branch closures have become a way for the banks of decreasing expenditure as profit margins become tighter.

Financial service sector

Financial services, which include banks, credit unions, credit-card companies, accountancy firms, insurance companies as well as financial service companies are an integral part of any economy. The banking sector assets as percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) was approximately 378 percent in 2019.