UK Second Most Attractive Country For Investment, PwC Survey Finds
UK Second Most Attractive Country For Investment, PwC Survey Finds
Global survey from PwC places United Kingdom ahead of China, Germany and India as most attractive country for investment
The United Kingdom has achieved one of its highest investment rankings in years, in a new survey of almost 4,701 CEOs from 109 different countries.
PwC announced that its 28th annual global CEO survey found that the United Kingdom surpassed Germany, China and India to become the second-most important destination for investment after the United States.
The survey was published at the start of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, and confirmed that for the first time in the 28 year history of the survey the UK has secured the second place spot.
In the same PwC survey last year, the UK was ranked fourth, and this improved showing will be welcome news for the UK’s embattled Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, after her ill-received budget last October that announced record tax increases for British citizens.
UK investment target
“These latest results show global CEOs are backing Britain and the UK is one of the most attractive destinations for international investment,” chancellor, Rachel Reeves was quoted as saying in response to the PwC survey. “And it’s this investment that will help drive economic growth and improve living standards across the UK.”
So what exactly is are the ranking positions in the PwC table?
Well the UK now trails only the US in this year’s survey, with 14 percent of global CEOs’ saying the UK will receive the greatest proportion of planned international capital expenditure.
The US leads the survey with 30 percent, while Germany (12 percent), China (9 percent) and India (7 percent), make up the top five investment destinations.
“Our CEO survey findings are a vote of confidence in the UK as a place for business and investment,” said Marco Amitrano, senior partner of PwC UK. “The UK’s relative stability at a time of instability should not be underestimated, nor should its strength in key sectors including technology.”
“However, there is no room for complacency,” said Amitrano. “Reasserting Britain’s place on the global stage requires a tangible path to growth and a consistent government approach to business and investment. Business is playing its part – with two thirds of UK CEOs developing new business capabilities or operating models in the pursuit of growth.”
China decline
Looking at outward investment interest, UK CEOs have shifted their international priorities this year, PwC noted.
While the United States, Germany and France remain the top three destinations, consistent with last year’s trend, there have been notable changes elsewhere.
Investment interest in China has fallen dramatically.
Conversely, interest in Australia has seen a marked increase. These shifts underscore a recalibration of global strategies as CEOs adapt to evolving risks and opportunities in international markets.
UK and GenAI
The PwC survey there has been a two-fold increase in GenAI adoption by UK businesses since last year’s survey.
Some 93 percent of UK CEOs say their firms have now adopted the technology to some extent, compared with 42 percent the previous year.
UK CEOs are still ahead on GenAI adoption compared with their global counterparts, where the adoption rate is 83 percent.
The UK prime minister Kier Starmer recently said the government is aiming to make the country an AI “superpower” with a pro-innovation approach to regulation.
This will build on the UK’s position in the AI achieved by the previous Conservative government.
“While many UK businesses have adopted GenAI to some degree, those degrees will vary enormously,” said PwC’s Amitrano. “There is a big difference between letting employees experiment with AI and embedding it into core business processes.”
“UK business has begun to move beyond the initial hype of GenAI to the reality of making it work – but that shouldn’t detract from its huge unrealised potential,” said Amitrano. “That more than a third of business leaders expect to see some financial gain from GenAI within the next year is very significant, and indeed encouraging.”
Economic outlook
And it seems the PwC survey has identified that CEOs are more optimistic on the UK economy, but see the need to transform their own businesses.
Some 61 percent of UK CEOs are optimistic about UK economic growth in the next 12 months (up from 39 percent in 2023), and are also positive about the global outlook (64 percent expect this to improve, compared with 58 percent of CEOs globally).
Longer-term confidence in their own business has declined slightly since the previous survey, with 57 percent of UK CEOs feeling very positive about their organisation’s prospects over three years, compared with 61 percent in last year’s survey.
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