It’s not just the London market that is shrinking

After all, London listed flops such as Deliveroo, while New York’s market recently welcomed Donald Trump’s Truth Social, hardly the world’s safest investment. India’s listing boom will be a mixed bag, but there will be some gems in there, and they will emerge over time.

Likewise, the Shanghai market may well have been weak over the last few years as the Chinese economy slows down, but has still doubled the number of companies listed over the last decade, and it may well improve this year as big names such as fashion retailer Shein, and the electric vehicle manufacturer Zeekr, sell shares to the investing public.

Overall, the Asia-Pacific region hosted more than 700 flotations in 2023, raising more than $73bn, more than half the global total. There is no sign of that trend slowing down. Indeed, with new capital markets such as Indonesia – with 79 flotations in 2023 and another 65 scheduled for this year – starting to thrive it will only accelerate.

In reality, the difficulties faced by all the major Western stock markets make one thing clear: this is not just a British phenomenon. Leaving the EU probably didn’t help, neither does stamp duty on share trading, or our hopelessly low levels of saving and investment. And yet in reality, those are all relatively minor factors. Stock markets are in rapid decline right across the developed world. It is nothing to be proud of, but we are simply ahead of the curve.