London, Jan 12 (IANS): The UK economy is nearly 140 billion British pounds ($178.7 billion), or six per cent, smaller than it would have been because of Brexit, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said.

The country's departure from the EU has also cost London's economy more than 30 billion pounds, Khan added on Thursday during a speech in the City of London, quoting a report by Cambridge Econometrics commissioned by City Hall.

"Brexit is simply not a peripheral concern that we can leave in the past -- it's a key contributor to the cost-of-living crisis right now and it's resulting in lost opportunities, lost business and lost income at a time when people and companies can least afford it," the London Mayor said, according to an official statement as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

The average Briton was nearly 2,000 pounds worse off in 2023, while the average Londoner was nearly 3,400 pounds worse off last year as a result of Brexit, the report showed.

The economic damage is only going to get worse, it added, noting that more than 300 billion pounds is set to be wiped off the value of the UK economy by 2035 if no action is taken. (1 British pound = $1.28)