The Brexit costs the economy UK Around £100 billion a year (equivalent to over R600 billion), the effects range from business investments to companies’ ability to hire workers. Three years after Britain left the European Union, an analysis by Bloomberg Economics was published on Monday that paints a bleak picture of the damage done.
Ana Andrade and Dan Hanson, economists who participated in the analysis, say the economy is 4% smaller than it was, business investment is down significantly and labor shortages are growing.
The poor performance is partly explained by business investment, as companies put off spending decisions due to uncertainty about what life is like outside the EU. In terms of labor pool, the analysis estimates that 370,000 fewer EU workers are employed in the UK than if the country had remained in the bloc.
Bloomberg’s analysis makes it clear that the UK’s economic performance has begun to diverge from the rest of the G7, a group of the world’s 7 most industrialized nations, since the 2016 vote to leave the EU. At around 9% of GDP, business investment is lower than the Group of Seven average of 13%.
In the middle of last year, a survey of EU citizens living in the UK revealed that six years after the Brexit vote, there is still an “open wound” due to the country’s departure from the bloc. Respondents felt betrayed and distrustful of Britain.
The research, carried out by the University of Birmingham in collaboration with Lancaster University, interviewed citizens of 22 EU countries who had lived in the UK for more than five years and remained there after Brexit. The results showed “a profound and lasting impact on the lives and sense of identity and belonging of EU citizens in the UK”.
