Britain’s economy is expected to grow faster than France, Germany, and Italy in the long term despite Brexit causing some “drag” over the next few years, according to one of the world’s largest professional services firms PwC.

The report, entitled “The long view: how will the global economic order change by 2050?,” ranked 32 countries by their projected global GDP by purchasing power parity (PPP).

PPP is used by macroeconomists to determine the economic productivity and standards of living between countries across a certain time period.

The 32 countries currently account for around 85% of global GDP.

The findings show that by 2050, the UK will only drop from 9th to 10th place in the ranking. Looking at data from 2016 until 2050, it shows that despite “some medium-term drag from Brexit,” Britain will grow faster than some of Europe’s largest economies.

“After a year of major political shocks with the Brexit vote and the election of President Trump, it might seem brave to opine on economic prospects for 2017, let alone 2050,” said John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC in a statement.

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“But a long-term view is crucial for considering areas like pensions, healthcare, energy and climate change, housing, transport and other infrastructure investment. By looking beyond unpredictable short-term economic and political cycles and focusing on fundamentals, long-term growth projections can actually be more reliable than short-term forecasts.

“Our relatively positive long-term growth projection for the UK is due to favourable demographic factors and a relatively flexible economy by European standards. However, developing successful trade and investment links with faster-growing emerging economies will be critical to achieving this, offsetting probable weaker trade links with the EU after Brexit.”

Foto: source PwC

However, PwC warned that its forecasts about Britain could change, depending on how “open” the UK remains to “talented people from around the world after Brexit.”

The biggest issues surrounding Brexit negotiations concern immigration and financial passporting. Britain is heading towards a “hard Brexit,” which means the UK would leave the European Union without access to the Single Market, in exchange for full control over immigration.

Britain is predominantly a services economy and a bulk of non-UK staff in this industry come from the EU. Furthermore, the loss of passporting rights following Brexit is one of the biggest fears in the City of London.

If the passport is taken away, London could cease to be the most important financial centre in Europe, costing the UK thousands of jobs and billions in revenues. Around 5,500 firms registered in the UK rely on the European Union’s passporting rights for the financial services sector, and they turn over about £9 billion in revenue.

On Monday, senior lobbyists and politicians from Paris, France said they expect Britain to lose jobs from Brexit. They believe that 10,000 jobs in the financial sector could migrate to the city from London as a result of Brexit, with as many as 30,000 moving if jobs indirectly related to financial services are included in any count.