Finance leaders now rank the UK as the most attractive destination when it comes to investment, with the country ranking alongside India as the world’s top investment hub, according to new research from Deloitte.

The professional services giant’s 2025 Q2 CFO Survey shows that the UK has climbed five places since the Q4 survey of 2024, when the country came in sixth behind the US, India, the Middle East, emerging Europe and Japan.

In a striking turnaround, Deloitte found that a net 13% of UK chief financial officers (CFOs) now describe Britain as either very or somewhat attractive, matching India as a top investment destination, while CFOs also have a more positive view of the rest of Europe than six months ago, seeing it as having a broadly similar appeal to the US. 

Deloitte’s report said that the UK’s rapid ascension is in part thanks to the decline in the US as an attractive destination for investment, after downgraded growth forecasts and a weakened dollar, but conversely Britain has also benefited from being one of the first countries to have signed a renewed trade deal with the Trump administration, in early May.

“These results reveal a shift in sentiment with the UK now viewed as a leading global investment destination,” said Richard Houston, senior partner and chief executive of Deloitte UK.

“This renewed confidence, coupled with a rise in risk appetite, is welcome and underscores the considerable investment potential the UK offers.”

The UK’s rising fortunes have contributed to a slight increase in optimism among CFOs this quarter, with the report finding a modest bump for Q2 2025 to reach -11%, compared to -14% for the previous quarter.  

Overall, CFOs generally expect inflation to decline to 2.9% by the middle of next year and predict that the Bank of England will lower its base rate to 3.75% over the next twelve months, down from its current rate of 4.25%.

As CFO confidence grows, so too does the appetite for risk. This quarter, CFOs reported an uptick in risk appetite, with 17% believing that it’s a good time to take more risk onto their balance sheets, compared to 12% last quarter. 

The survey also shows a slight tilt away from defensive strategies for the first time in a year, with CFOs more likely to prioritise expansion strategies, like introducing new products and expanding into new markets (30%) or expanding by acquisition (13%), than they have been at any point since the autumn of 2023.  

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However, defensive strategies (41%) remain twice as likely to be a priority as expansionary ones (19%), with firms more focused on reducing costs (69%) and increasing cash flow (42%).

This defensive posture can be linked to rising levels of uncertainty, with 44% of CFOs reporting either high or very high levels of uncertainty facing their business, slightly above the long-term average of 40%.

Unsettled geopolitical conditions continue to be a major issue for the eighth consecutive quarter, with 71% of CFOs naming geopolitical risks as their top concern, ahead of weak competitiveness in the UK economy (57%), higher energy prices (50%), further rate rises (50%), and the risk of inflation (48%).