Olympics 'to bring £16.5bn boost'

The Olympics will deliver a £16.5 billion boost to the UK economy by 2017 and help create the equivalent of 62,200 jobs, a new report has claimed.

The estimated benefits are from 2005, when the Games were awarded, to the five years after the Games finish, and will come mainly as a result of building Olympic sites and the boost to tourism, according to the study by Lloyds Banking Group.

Lloyds, whose Lloyds TSB is a London 2012 sponsor, said nearly a third of the gains - worth £5 billion - will come over the five years following the event, when Olympic sites are converted to other uses and tourism continues to see a boost.

And there will also be a "happiness effect" as the Games boost the public mood and spark a rise in consumer spending.

This was equivalent to a gift of £165 per person in England during Euro 1996 and it is expected to be at least as big this time around.

Lloyds chief economist Patrick Foley said: "London 2012 is the most important sporting event the UK has ever staged.

"We've witnessed a construction project on an unprecedented scale, the economic ripples of which are being felt not only in the host city, but across the UK.

"As this study demonstrates, London 2012 will help support employment, tourism, consumer spending and living standards, not only this year, but for many years to come.

"And it could not have come at a better time, given the tough conditions in the UK economy."

The Games are expected to attract 10 million visitors, including 1.2 million from overseas, but the country's tourism will continue to gain a knock-on effect over the next five years.