Study: Brexit referendum spurs UK companies into investing in EU - Reuters

According to the latest study by the researchers from the London School of Economics’ Centre for Economic Performance, the UK firms' investments in the European Union (EU) countries have increased sharply after the 2016 Brexit vote.

Key Findings (via Reuters):

“The referendum result led to a 12 percent increase in foreign direct investment transactions from Britain into the EU between mid-2016 and September 2018

That translated into an increase of around 8.3 billion pounds, concentrated entirely in the services industry.

Conversely, the research pointed to an 11 percent drop in investment transactions from the EU into Britain, worth around 3.5 billion pounds.

Thomas Sampson, one of the report’s authors, noted: “The data show that Brexit has made the UK a less attractive place to invest. Lower investment hurts the economy and means that UK workers are going to miss out on new job opportunities.”

The researchers on Monday said there was scant sign that British firms had upped investment into developed countries outside the EU in preparation for Brexit.

Investment into the EU by British manufacturing firms remained little changed by the Brexit vote.”