The above table is from this report published today:

The EY UK Attractiveness Survey 2026, the latest in our series of annual reports exploring the performance and perceptions of the UK as a destination for foreign direct investment (FDI). It’s now been 25 years since EY first published this study. Over that time, it has become an eagerly awaited and indispensable reference point for business leaders, investors and policymakers as they seek to understand the drivers of inward investment and the UK’s relative performance against other European FDI locations in a constantly changing global landscape.¹

EY’s database does not give a total list but it’s likely to be around 1 170.²

That Greater London dominates this list year-after-year is not a good thing but rather creates widened regional inequality. The UK has some of the highest economic disparities in the OECD. London’s productivity pull has grown since the 1980s, leaving many non-London cities underperforming. This creates a “two-speed” economy. ³

Within the UK, Scotland’s performance is remarkable and impressive:

In crude terms, Scotland comes second but if we take into account, as is reasonable and informative, the relative populations of the ‘regions’:

Scotland is first and performing well ahead of all the more populous regions – London, West Midlands, Andy Burnham’s NW England, SE England, and E England.

Source:

1. https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=58ba70d06cad6c0b47e002152794a13f15b221e7b243525792ea9a539a384441JmltdHM9MTc4MjE3MjgwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=040f0c0f-8f6f-69bb-36d4-18948ed46872&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZXkuY29tL2NvbnRlbnQvZGFtL2V5LXVuaWZpZWQtc2l0ZS9leS1jb20vZW4tdWsvbmV3c3Jvb20vMjAyNi8wNi9wZGYvZXktdWstYXR0cmFjdGl2ZW5lc3Mtc3VydmV5LTIwMjYucGRm&ntb=1
2. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/nuts
3. https://www.productivity.ac.uk/news/how-is-regional-inequality-affecting-the-uks-economic-performance/