Economic impact

The support we offer as a bank helps our business and retail customers to grow and develop. Our investment products across all our Business Units help businesses and retail customers to develop and meet their long-term needs. Our ability to provide finance helps business to start and expand and our credit offerings to retail customers helps them to buy new property and to finance other needs. By doing what we do well as a bank, we can bring tangible benefits to the markets in which we operate. However, quantifying these benefits is not easy, especially when considering the multiplier effect — the wider economic impact of our employees and customers.

As a large global company our presence in the markets in which we operate also provides benefits to shareholders through dividends, our suppliers through the work we give them, our employees and their families through salaries and benefits, and governments through tax revenue.

• We paid £2.25billion in dividends to our shareholders in 2007. These shareholders include many of the major pension funds, mutual funds and insurance companies. Our success benefits millions of individuals around the world who rely on their pensions and investments for their income. In 2007, 7% of shares were held by individual investors
• Taking into account our share price, as well as the dividends paid, Barclays delivered a total shareholder return of 20.4% in 2007. This put us 8th in our chosen peer group for the period from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2007
• We paid £7bn in employee salaries and incentives in 2007. We also contributed £301m to employee pension plans and retirement benefits
• We also paid nearly £4.7bn in tax in the countries in which we operate, including more than £2.1bn in the UK
• We have in excess of 25,000 suppliers with 10,000 making up 90% of our third-party spend. In 2007, our annual global sourcing spend was £7bn
• In South Africa, we take supplier decisions that are intended to improve the economic prospects of black South Africans. In 2007, Absa was able to significantly improve the percentage spend with Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) companies throughout 2007. The Financial Sector Charter target for Absa is to have 50% (weighted spend) of its qualifying third-party spend going to BEE-rated suppliers by 2008. Absa has significantly exceeded that target a full year ahead of schedule, with 62% (weighted spend) of its qualifying procurement spend going to BEE companies during 2007.

In 2008, we intend to commission a research project to map the economic impact of our presence in the emerging markets. We will use this research to consider how we can better serve the communities in which we operate.

	Net UK tax paid £m	Net non-UK tax paid £m	Total £m
Corporate income tax(1)	71	1,512	1,583
Employee related tax (e.g. PAYE and NIC)	1,418	736	2,154
Indirect taxes (e.g. VAT)	321	285	606
Other taxes(2)	323	25	348
Total	2,133	2,558	4,691

(1) The total global corporate income tax paid of £1,583m will be the amount shown in the cash flow statement in the Group’s annual report. The £71m paid to the UK tax authorities is the net of £513m paid less £442m reclaimed for overpayments in earlier years.

(2) This is mainly income tax withheld on customers’ UK interest income (being £249m of the total £348m). Some non-UK amounts have yet to be obtained.