A new report by TheCityUK found financial and related professional services firms in Scotland had a record year in 2016 with exports up by 9% to £7.2 billion.

UK-wide, financial industry exports were up 15.8% to £95.7 billion.

TheCityUK is an industry-led body representing UK-based financial and related professional services industry.

Anjalika Bardalai, Chief Economist and Head of Research, TheCityUK, said: “While London is an important piece of the puzzle, over half the industry’s exports come from elsewhere – £7.2 billion from Scotland alone.

“In 2016, industry exports saw double digit growth in nearly every part of the country (UK).

“It’s this collective national contribution which helps to make the UK the world’s leading international financial centre.”

The report shows that the South East of England was the largest exporter of financial and related professional services outside London in 2016 (£11.6 billion), followed by Scotland (£7.2 billion) and the North West of England (£6.6 billion).

Taken together, Scotland and the North West of England exported financial services worth almost three quarters of the financial services exports of France as a whole.

The report said the UK is the world’s leading net exporter of financial services, with a trade surplus of $77 billion (£57 billion) in 2016.

This is nearly twice that of the next leading country, the US, at $41 billion (£31 billion).