Our impact and key facts

Our people

8,600

There are 8,600 residents living in the City of London.

1 in 52

1 in 52 UK workers are employed in the City.

614,500 workers

There are 614,500 workers in the City of London.

Millions of visitors

Welcoming millions of domestic and international visitors to the Square Mile each year.

Our broader remit

We work alongside our residents to deliver excellent services and ensure people live in good quality housing and live independent and healthy lives. This includes housing, education, safeguarding, care and support for children and adults, public health, libraries, leisure and adult education. Our work also focuses on building new affordable homes and providing well maintained, safe homes on our existing properties (including the Barbican Estate, Middlesex Street Estate, Golden Lane Estate and ten other estates situated in six different London boroughs).

Air quality

We improve air quality, enforce trading standards, combat noise pollution and deliver licensing regulations. Our responsibilities in the Square Mile include planning and development, building control, highways and transportation, cleansing and waste, environmental health, licensing and trading standards.

City of London Police

The City of London Police is a local service with a national role. It polices a unique local area and is also the National Lead Force for Fraud, and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for economic, cyber and business crime. As such, it has responsibilities to keep both the City and the UK safe from crime.

City of London Cemetery and Crematorium

Since 1856, we have operated the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium, a stunning 200-acre Grade 1 listed landscape and one of the largest municipal cemeteries in Europe.

London Port Health Authority

We are the London Port Health Authority for the tidal River Thames, patrolling 94 miles of Britain’s busiest waterway from Teddington to the outer Thames Estuary, and undertaking controls on imported food and feed that enter through numerous ports along the river.

Markets

We operate markets, providing a vital link to the food supply chain for London and the South of England. The markets move 1 million tonnes of produce every year, contribute around £590 million in gross value added (GVA) to the UK economy, and support 10,250 jobs directly and through the associated supply chains.

Charities

We are a committed charity trustee of the City Bridge Foundation and our Natural Environment charities.

Heathrow Animal Reception Centre

We manage the Heathrow Animal Reception Centre, and our staff look after around 14,000 dogs and cats, 400 horses, 150,000 reptiles, 1,000 birds and 25 million fish that are imported through Heathrow Airport each year. We are also the Animal Health Authority for Greater London, and we undertake animal establishment licensing for other local authorities.

Sustainability and natural environment

• We look after 11,000 acres of natural habitats in London and the Home Counties, which is approximately the same size as 20 Hyde Parks. These remove an estimated 16,000tn of CO₂ per year, equivalent to 44% of the City Corporation’s carbon footprint.
• The estimated value of the benefits delivered by the natural capital assets quantified across the open spaces portfolio is £126.8m annually, with a present value of £3.6bn over 50 years.
• Our green spaces are home to more than 58,000 ancient trees and hundreds of endangered species. They receive over 47m visits annually.
• The City is lead authority for hazardous waste collection across London, arranging for around 5,600 collections of asbestos and chemical waste from the public sector, schools and charities.
• Our cleansing service provides waste and recycling collections for 7,000 residential properties, using the first fully electric fleet of refuse collection vehicles in the country.
• Walbrook Wharf waste transfer station handles around 50,000tn of general waste a year. The majority is from commercial premises with 2,500 tonnes from household and street cleansing.
• Waste is transported down-river in barges powered by biofuel to an energy-from-waste facility. This saves 5,500 vehicle movements a year, reducing air and noise pollution and road traffic congestion, and re-emphasises City Corporation’s commitment to the revival of the River Thames as a green highway for London.

Culture and heritage

• We are one of the Country's largest funders of culture, investing £130m every year in heritage and cultural activities.
• Guildhall School of Music and Drama is ranked number one out of 12 in arts, drama and music by the Complete University Guide 2023.
• The Guildhall Art Gallery displays more than 250 portraits, paintings and sculptures and is free of charge to visit.
• We run London’s archive service, collecting, preserving, sharing and celebrating the stories of London and Londoners with local, national and international audiences. We safeguard over 100km of records on businesses, schools, hospitals, charities, and many other organisations and people from London.   
• The Barbican Centre holds thousands of events for the public each year and opens its doors for approximately 1.5m visitors annually.
• We manage, maintain and conserve 877 heritage assets, including scheduled monuments, listed buildings, historic open spaces, churchyards and cemeteries, ceremonial furnishings, and historic carriages.
• Our natural environment provides a wide range of access and recreation opportunities, including miles of walking and cycling trails, open water swimming facilities, golf, tennis, football, rugby, bowls, and numerous play areas. It is also rich in cultural heritage, including two museums, a visitor centre, ancient hill forts and a wide range of other archaeological features.

Our community

1,900

We are the strategic housing authority for the City of London and a landlord responsible for over 1,900 social tenanted properties and over 950 leaseholder properties across London.

1,800

We provide over 1,800 social housing units on 12 estates across six London Boroughs and the City.

38,000

Our open spaces provide a unique learning place for 38,000 people from schools, colleges and youth groups.

Outstanding

Our children’s social care services are rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted.

20,000

Passionate and proud volunteers help our natural environments thrive giving over 20,000 volunteer hours a year.

180 sites

Volunteer groups play an active role in helping us manage our City Gardens – approximately 180 sites throughout the City and beyond – contributing around 4,500 volunteer hours each year.  

288,000

Three community libraries – including the award-winning Barbican Music Library – attract 288,000 visits annually.

Ranked first

Our care-related quality of life score for adults is ranked first within peer group and of 150 councils.

Education and lifelong learning

• Five out of the ten City of London Academies Trust schools hold an ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating, and two are rated ‘good’ with ‘outstanding features’.
• City of London School for Girls was the top performing independent school for GCSE results in 2022 and 2023.
• The City of London Freemen’s School is consistently placed among the top five co-educational boarding schools in the UK based on A-Level outcomes.
• The City of London School is ranked as ‘excellent’ by the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate for both quality of pupils’ academic and other achievements, and for quality of pupils’ personal development.
• In 2023, we took on seventy apprentices across City Corporation and partner organisations.

Economic contributions and assets

73,000

City jobs have grown over 13% since pre-pandemic 2019 to 2022, with nearly 73,000 more jobs than in 2019.

49,000

The Salisbury Square development is creating a new civic hub, including a headquarters for the City of London Police and a new modern facility for HM Courts and Tribunals Service in the heart of London’s legal centre, creating 49,000 m2 of space.

28,500

Relocating the Museum of London will enable more people from London and around the world to visit. This will create a world-class learning experience, capable of hosting blockbuster exhibitions and events in 28,500 m2 of space.

1 in every 5

The City accounts for 1 in every 5 financial services jobs in Great Britain.  

20 million

A solar farm in Dorset constructed through a power purchase agreement (PPA) has reduced energy costs for the City Corporation by £20m per annum. It is the first of its kind in the UK within the public sector.

£30 million

We manage around 400 revenue projects with a value of more than £30m.

£85 billion

The City generates nearly £85bn in economic outputs annually, supporting the UK economy.

£1.4 million

25% of City Corporation new entrant apprenticeship opportunities, provided through a centrally funded budget of £1.4m, are reserved for individual residents of local and neighbouring authorities aged 18 to 24 who are from disadvantaged backgrounds.

£1.1 billion

The City also contributes to services across the UK, generating £1.1bn in business rates alone.

£3 billion

Property fund management focuses on maximising rental income and long-term performance for City Fund and City Estates assets, which total approximately £3bn in value across 250 properties. Portfolio performance exceeds the industry benchmark (MSCI total returns) over a 5, 10 and 28 year time frame.