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Dividends from UK-listed firms soared over the past three months, boosted by big payouts from London's biggest miners. 

Payments in the third quarter of 2021 rocketed to £34.9billion, an 89 per cent increase year on year, according to data from financial tech firm Link Group. 

The increase was attributed to 'large one-off special dividends', however underlying dividends, which do not include specials, also surged 53 per cent to £27.7billion. 

Digging deep: The mining sector saw an 'unprecedented boom' in dividends, which quadrupled year on year to £12.8billion

The mining sector saw an 'unprecedented boom' in dividends, which quadrupled year on year to £12.8billion, more than the next five biggest sectors combined.

For example, in August, BHP unveiled a record final dividend of $2 (145p) a share. 

Meanwhile, surging crude prices allowed payouts from oil firms to recover faster than expected, while the restoration of dividends from big banks following a ban last year also boosted the numbers. 

However, the quarter was set against the same period in 2020, when Covid halved dividend payouts.

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