Foreign investment into the UK reduced by half last year as the recession led to foreign firms pulling out of the UK, according to a survey by the UN.

The world investor flow survey from the UN revealed that overseas investment fell by half to £97bn as Britain was hit harder by the global recession than almost any other nation.

For over a decade the UK topped EU tables for foreign investment but the UK is now second in Europe and third in the world, partly as a result of the pound's decline against the dollar.