The UK's biggest companies are continuing to use offshore tax havens, despite recent public and political debate on tax avoidance issues, according to research by ActionAid.

The charity says 40% of all the overseas subsidiary and associate companies of the FTSE 100 are now registered in tax havens, and that every new entrant to the FTSE 100 since 2011 has tax haven companies, averaging a third of all their overseas subsidiaries.

The report claims there are only two FTSE 100 companies who do not have subsidiaries in tax havens - the mining group Fresnillo and the financial advice business Hargreaves Lansdown.

Mike Lewis, ActionAid's tax justice policy adviser, said: 'Four years after G20 leaders promised an end to tax havens, tax haven structures are near-universal among the UK's biggest multinationals. The UK is responsible for one in five of the world's tax havens - that's more than any other country.'

The survey, which analyses the subsidiaries, joint ventures and associated companies of the current FTSE 100, identifies banks as the most prolific user of tax havens.

ActionAid says over half (58%) of all FTSE 100 banks' overseas companies are in tax havens (1,780 companies). Developing countries constitute almost a third of the countries in which FTSE 100 banks operate, yet they have 13 times as many companies located in tax havens as in developing countries.

The report makes clear that there is no suggestion the FTSE 100 companies are involved in tax evasion schemes. However, the charity says its findings highlight the extent of multinationals' operations in jurisdictions that can provide substantial tax advantages and help obscure information.

Lewis said: 'David Cameron convenes the G8 leaders in Northern Ireland next month. They must deliver on their promise to call time on tax havens for the benefit of all countries, including the poorest.'