Huge productivity drop in finance sector

Thursday 30 April 2015

The profits and earnings in Jersey’s financial services sector dropped by a third between 2007 and 2013, according to fresh economic figures.

New stats show that the combined profits by finance companies and the amount they pay staff dropped by 33% from £2.3 billion in 2007 to £1.5 billion in 2013.

And the figures also show a huge drop in productivity within the sector over the long-term.

The combined profits and earnings per employee was £207,000 back in 2001 – by 2013 that same figure had dropped by 37% to £130,000 in 2013.

The statistics have been revealed for the first time in the Jersey in Figures booklet, which compiles stats released throughout the course of a year, and sets out numbers in more detail.

It takes months to calculate the main figures used to measure Jersey’s economy – the Gross Value Added, or GVA, combines profits and earnings to give a picture of overall strength.

The GVA figures for 2014 will not be released until the end of September.

They’re expected to show the first actual improvement in the Island’s economy since 2007.

Almost all non-finance sectors – including things like construction, retail, hospitality and agriculture – have been essentially flat from 2001 to 2013, but the big drop has been in finance, led by the fall in the banking sector which dropped from £1.8 billion in 2000 to £800 million in 2013.