The UK has missed out on nearly £2tn of investment in business and infrastructure over the past quarter of a century because of inconsistent government policy, according to a study by the consultancy Oxford Economics commissioned by Getlink, the owner of the Channel Tunnel, and the companies behind Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester airports.
The report, The UK’s Investment Shortfall, published on 8 September, concluded that private investors in Britain pay an “unpredictability premium” because of inconsistent public policy and the elevated cost of doing business.
Of 38 advanced economies in the OECD, only Greece has been weaker than the UK for business investment in relative terms, the study found. In 2025 the UK invested 18.9 per cent of GDP, against an average of 22.5 per cent across the OECD, it said.
Oxford Economics calculated that if the UK had invested at the OECD average, an extra £1.9tn would have flowed into the British economy since the turn of the millennium. The shortfall amounted to £109bn in the past year alone, the report said.
It stated: “Three barriers have been identified that set the UK apart from higher-investing economies: the burden and design of business taxation; the costs of delivering new capacity, particularly planning, energy and construction labour; and policy unpredictability.”
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