Economy

London generates about 20 per cent of the UK's GDP^[ (or $446 billion in 2005); while the economy of the London metropolitan area—the largest in Europe—generates about 30 per cent of the UK's GDP (or an estimated $669 billion in 2005).^[187] London is one of the pre-eminent financial centres of the world and vies with New York City as the most important location for international finance.

London's largest industry is finance, and its financial exports make it a large contributor to the UK's balance of payments. Around 325,000 people were employed in financial services in London until mid-2007. London has over 480 overseas banks, more than any other city in the world. Over 85 percent (3.2 million) of the employed population of greater London works in the services industries. Because of its prominent global role, London's economy had been affected by the Late-2000s financial crisis. However, by 2010 the City has recovered; put in place new regulatory powers, proceeded to regain lost ground and re-established London's economic parity with New York. The City of London is home to the Bank of England, London Stock Exchange, and Lloyd's of London insurance market.

Over half of the UK's top 100 listed companies (the FTSE 100) and over 100 of Europe's 500 largest companies have their headquarters in central London. Over 70 per cent of the FTSE 100 are within London's metropolitan area, and 75 per cent of Fortune 500 companies have offices in London.

Along with professional services, media companies are concentrated in London and the media distribution industry is London's second most competitive sectorThe BBC is a significant employer, while other broadcasters also have headquarters around the City. Many national newspapers are edited in London. London is a major retail centre and in 2010 had the highest non-food retail sales of any city in the world, with a total spend of around £64.2 billion. The Port of London is the second-largest in the United Kingdom, handling 45 million tonnes of cargo each year.

London has five major business districts: the City, Westminster, Canary Wharf, Camden & Islington and Lambeth & Southwark. One way to get an idea of their relative importance is to look at relative amounts of office space: Greater London had 27 million m² of office space in 2001, and the City contains the most space, with 8 million m² of office space. London has some of the highest real estate prices in the world.

A growing number of technology companies are based in London notably in East London Tech City, also known as Silicon Roundabout. In April 2014, the city was among the first to receive a geo TLD.^[

In February 2014 London was ranked as the European City of the Future in the 2014/15 list by FDi Magazine.

London has the highest property prices of any European city according to the Office for National Statistics and the European Office of Statistics On average the price per square metre in central London is €24,252 (April 2014). This is higher than the property prices in other G8 European capital cities; Berlin €3,306, Rome €6,188 and Paris €11,229.

The gas and electricity distribution networks that manage and operate the towers, cables and pressure systems that deliver energy to consumers across the city are managed by National Grid plc, SGN^[ and UK Power Networks.