Economy of the United Kingdom

1945 to 1979

After the Second World War, a new Labour government fully nationalised the Bank of England, civil aviation, telephone networks, railways, gas, electricity, and the coal, iron and steel industries, affecting 2.3 million workers.^[72] Post-war, the United Kingdom enjoyed a long period without a major recession; there was a rapid growth in prosperity in the 1950s and 1960s, with unemployment staying low and not exceeding 3.5% until the early 1970s.^[73] The annual rate of growth between 1960 and 1973 averaged 2.9%, although this figure was far behind other European countries such as France, West Germany and Italy.^[74]

Deindustrialisation meant the closure of operations in mining, heavy industry, and manufacturing, resulting in the loss of highly paid working-class jobs.^[75] The UK's share of manufacturing output had risen from 9.5% in 1830 during the Industrial Revolution to 22.9% in the 1870s. It fell to 13.6% by 1913, 10.7% by 1938, and 4.9% by 1973.^[76] Overseas competition, lack of innovation, trade unionism, the welfare state, loss of the British Empire, and cultural attitudes have all been put forward as explanations.^[77] It reached crisis point in the 1970s against the backdrop of a worldwide energy crisis, high inflation, and a dramatic influx of low-cost manufactured goods from Asia.^[78]

During the 1973 oil crisis (which saw oil prices quadruple),^[79] the 1973–74 stock market crash, and the secondary banking crisis of 1973–75, the British economy fell into the 1973–75 recession and the government of Edward Heath was ousted by the Labour Party under Harold Wilson, which had previously governed from 1964 to 1970. Wilson formed a minority government in March 1974 after the general election on 28 February ended in a hung parliament. Wilson secured a three-seat overall majority in a second election in October that year. The UK recorded weaker growth than many other European nations in the 1970s; even after the recession, the economy was blighted by rising unemployment and double-digit inflation, which exceeded 20% more than once and was rarely below 10% after 1973.

In 1976, the UK was forced to apply for a loan of £2.3 billion from the International Monetary Fund. Denis Healey, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, was required to implement public spending cuts and other economic reforms in order to secure the loan, and for a while the British economy improved, with growth of 4.3% in early 1979. Following the discovery of large North Sea oil reserves, the UK became a net exporter of oil by the end of the 1970s, which contributed to a massive appreciation of the pound, making exports in general more expensive and imports cheaper. Oil prices doubled between 1979 and 1980, further reducing manufacturing profitability.^[79] After the Winter of Discontent, when the UK was hit by numerous public sector strikes, the government of James Callaghan lost a vote of no confidence in March 1979. This triggered the general election on 3 May 1979 which resulted in Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party forming a new government.

1979 to 1997

A new period of neo-liberal economics began with this election. During the 1980s, many state-owned industries and utilities were privatised, taxes cut, trade union reforms passed and markets deregulated. GDP fell by 5.9% initially,^[80] but growth subsequently returned and rose to an annual rate of 5% at its peak in 1988, one of the highest rates of any country in Europe.^[81][82]

Thatcher's modernisation of the economy was far from trouble-free; her battle with inflation, which in 1980 had risen to 21.9%, resulted in a substantial increase in unemployment from 5.3% in 1979 to over 10.4% by the start of 1982, peaking at nearly 11.9% in 1984 – a level not seen in Britain since the Great Depression.^[83] The rise in unemployment coincided with the early 1980s global recession, after which UK GDP did not reach its pre-recession rate until 1983. In spite of this, Thatcher was re-elected in June 1983 with a landslide majority. Inflation had fallen to 3.7%, while interest rates were relatively high at 9.56%.^[83] The increase in unemployment was largely due to the government's economic policy which resulted in the closure of outdated factories and coal pits. Manufacturing in England and Wales declined from around 38% of jobs in 1961 to around 22% in 1981.^[84] This trend continued for most of the 1980s, with newer industries and the service sector enjoying significant growth. Many jobs were also lost as manufacturing became more efficient and fewer people were required to work in the sector. Unemployment had fallen below 3 million by the time of Thatcher's third successive election victory in June 1987; and by the end of 1989 it was down to 1.6 million.^[85]

Britain's economy slid into another global recession in late 1990; it shrank by a total of 6% from peak to trough,^[86] and unemployment increased from around 6.9% in spring 1990 to nearly 10.7% by the end of 1993. However, inflation dropped from 10.9% in 1990 to 1.3% three years later.^[83] The subsequent economic recovery was extremely strong, and unlike after the early 1980s recession, the recovery saw a rapid and substantial fall in unemployment, which was down to 7.2% by 1997,^[83] although the popularity of the Conservative government had failed to improve with the economic upturn. The government won a fourth successive election in 1992 under John Major, who had succeeded Thatcher in November 1990, but soon afterwards came Black Wednesday, which damaged the Conservative government's reputation for economic competence, and from that stage onwards, the Labour Party was ascendant in the opinion polls, particularly in the immediate aftermath of Tony Blair's election as party leader in July 1994 after the sudden death of his predecessor John Smith.

Despite two recessions, wages grew consistently by around 2% per year in real terms from 1980 until 1997, and continued to grow until 2008.^[87]

1997 to 2009

In May 1997, Labour, led by Tony Blair, won the general election after 18 years of Conservative government.^[88] The Labour Government inherited a strong economy with low inflation,^[89] falling unemployment,^[90] and a current account surplus.^[91] Blair ran on a platform of New Labour which was characterised largely by the continuation of neo-liberal economic policies, but also supporting a strong welfare state. In Britain it was largely viewed as a combination of socialist and capitalist policies, being dubbed 'Third Way'.^[92] Four days after the election, Gordon Brown, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, gave the Bank of England the freedom to control monetary policy, which until then had been directed by the government.

During Blair's 10 years in office there were 40 successive quarters of economic growth, lasting until the second quarter of 2008. GDP growth, which had briefly reached 4% per year in the early 1990s, gently declining thereafter, was relatively anaemic compared to prior decades, such as the 6.5% per year peak in the early 1970s, although growth was smoother and more consistent.^[82] Annual growth rates averaged 2.68% between 1992 and 2007,^[81] with the finance sector accounting for a greater part than previously. The period saw one of the highest GDP growth rates of any developed economy and the strongest of any European nation.^[93] At the same time, household debt rose from £420 billion in 1994 to £1 trillion in 2004 and £1.46 trillion in 2008 – more than the entire GDP of the UK.^[94]

This extended period of growth ended in Q2 of 2008 when the United Kingdom entered a recession brought about by the global financial crisis. The UK was particularly vulnerable to the crisis because its financial sector was the most highly leveraged of any major economy.^[95] Beginning with the collapse of Northern Rock, which was taken into public ownership in February 2008, other banks had to be partly nationalised. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, at its peak the fifth-largest bank in the world by market capitalisation, was effectively nationalised in October 2008. By mid-2009, HM Treasury had a 70.33% controlling shareholding in RBS, and a 43% shareholding, through the UK Financial Investments Limited, in Lloyds Banking Group. The Great Recession, as it came to be known, saw unemployment rise from just over 1.6 million in January 2008 to nearly 2.5 million by October 2009.^[96][97]

In August 2008 the IMF warned that the country's outlook had worsened due to a twin shock: financial turmoil and rising commodity prices.^[98] Both developments harmed the UK more than most developed countries, as it obtained revenue from exporting financial services while running deficits in goods and commodities, including food. In 2007, the UK had the world's third largest current account deficit, due mainly to a large deficit in manufactured goods. In May 2008, the IMF advised the UK government to broaden the scope of fiscal policy to promote external balance.^[99] The UK's output per hour worked was on a par with the average for the "old" EU-15 countries.^[100]

2009 to 2020

In March 2009, the Bank of England (BoE) cut interest rates to a then-historic low of 0.5% and began quantitative easing (QE) to boost lending and shore up the economy.^[101] The UK exited the Great Recession in Q4 of 2009 having experienced six consecutive quarters of negative growth, shrinking by 6.03% from peak to trough, making it the longest recession since records began and the deepest since World War II.^[86][102] Support for Labour slumped during the recession, and the general election of 2010 resulted in a coalition government being formed by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

In 2011, household, financial, and business debts stood at 420% of GDP in the UK.^[b][103] As the world's most indebted country, spending and investment were held back after the recession, creating economic malaise. However, it was recognised that government borrowing, which rose from 52% to 76% of GDP, had helped to avoid a 1930s-style depression.^[104] Within three years of the general election, government cuts aimed at reducing the budget deficit had led to public sector job losses well into six figures, but the private sector enjoyed strong jobs growth.

The 10 years following the Great Recession were characterised by extremes. In 2015, employment was at its highest since records began,^[105] and GDP growth had become the fastest in the Group of Seven (G7) and Europe,^[106] but workforce productivity was the worst since the 1820s, with any growth attributed to a fall in working hours.^[107] Output per hour worked was 18% below the average for the rest of the G7.^[108] Real wage growth was the worst since the 1860s, and the Governor of the Bank of England described it as a lost decade.^[109] Wages fell by 10% in real terms in the eight years to 2016, whilst they grew across the OECD by an average of 6.7%.^[110] For 2015 as a whole,^[111] the current account deficit rose to a record high of 5.2% of GDP (£96.2bn),^[112] the highest in the developed world.^[113] In Q4 2015, it exceeded 7%, a level not witnessed during peacetime since records began in 1772.^[114] The UK relied on foreign investors to plug the shortfall in its balance of payments.^[115] Homes had become less affordable, a problem exacerbated by QE, without which house prices would have fallen by 22%, according to the BoE's own analysis.^[116]

A rise in unsecured household debt added to questions over the sustainability of the economic recovery in 2016.^{[117][118][119]} The BoE insisted there was no cause for alarm,^[120] despite having said two years earlier that the recovery was "neither balanced nor sustainable".^[121][c] Following the UK's 2016 decision to leave the European Union, the BoE cut interest rates to a new historic low of 0.25% for just over a year. It also increased the amount of QE since the start of the Great Recession to £435bn.^[124] By Q4 2018 net borrowing in the UK was the highest in the OECD at 5% of GDP.^[d] Households had been in deficit for an unprecedented nine quarters in a row. Since the Great Recession, the country was no longer making a profit on its foreign investments.^[125]

2020 to present

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In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a temporary ban was imposed on non-essential business and travel in the UK. The BoE cut the interest rate to 0.1%.^[126] Economic growth had been weak before the crisis, with zero growth in Q4 2019.^[127] By May, 23% of the British workforce was furloughed (temporarily laid off). Government schemes were launched to help affected workers.^[128] In the first half of 2020, GDP shrank by 22.6%,^[129] the deepest recession in UK history and worse than any other G7 or European country.^[130] During 2020 the BoE purchased £450 billion of government bonds, taking the amount of quantitative easing since the start of the Great Recession to £895 billion.^[131] Overall, GDP shrank by 9.9% in 2020, making it the worst contraction since the Great Frost paralysed the economy in 1709.^[132]

In 2021 consumer price inflation (CPI) began rising sharply due to higher energy and transport costs.^[133] With annual inflation approaching 11%, the BoE gradually increased the base rate to 2.25% during the first nine months of 2022.^[134] The UK was not alone: global inflation rates were the highest in 40 years owing to the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine,^[135] though as of September 2022^[update], the country had the highest domestic electricity prices and amongst the highest gas prices in Europe, contributing to a cost of living crisis.^[136] In February 2022 the BoE began quantitative tightening (a reversal of QE) by not renewing mature government bonds and in November started offloading bonds to private investors,^[137] signalling the end to an era of easy borrowing.^[138][139] In October 2022 year-on-year CPI was at 11.1%, the worst for 41 years, food price inflation was 16.2%, gas prices 130% and electricity 66%. GDP was still lower than before the pandemic.^[140]

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development stated among the G20 group of leading nations only Russia would contract more than Britain in 2023. Weak performance is forecast to continue in 2024. OECD economist, Álvaro Pereira said the UK's poor performance was due to rising interest rates, government measures to reduce borrowing and debt, and market disturbence during the Premiership of Liz Truss.^[141]

The Office for National Statistics stated the UK economy shrank 0.3% during the three months to September 2022. The UK GDP is thought to be 0.8% lower in the third quarter of 2022 than in the last three months of 2019.^[142]

Discover more about History related topics

Economic history of the United Kingdom

Economic history of the United Kingdom

The economic history of the United Kingdom relates the economic development in the British state from the absorption of Wales into the Kingdom of England after 1535 to the modern United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland of the early 21st century.

Attlee ministry

Attlee ministry

Clement Attlee was invited by King George VI to form the Attlee ministry in the United Kingdom in July 1945, succeeding Winston Churchill as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The Labour Party had won a landslide victory at the 1945 general election, and went on to enact policies of what became known as the post-war consensus, including the establishment of the welfare state and the nationalisation of some industries. The government's spell in office was marked by post-war austerity measures, the violent crushing of pro-independence and communist movements in Malaya, the grant of independence to India, the engagement in the Cold War against Soviet Communism as well as the creation of the country's National Health Service (NHS).

Bank of England

Bank of England

The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of the United Kingdom, it is the world's eighth-oldest bank. It was privately owned by stockholders from its foundation in 1694 until it was nationalised in 1946 by the Attlee ministry.

French Fourth Republic

French Fourth Republic

The French Fourth Republic was the republican government of France from 27 October 1946 to 4 October 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic that was in place from 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War to 1940 during World War II, and suffered many of the same problems. France adopted the constitution of the Fourth Republic on 13 October 1946.

Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going from hand production methods to machines; new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes; the increasing use of water power and steam power; the development of machine tools; and the rise of the mechanized factory system. Output greatly increased, and a result was an unprecedented rise in population and in the rate of population growth. The textile industry was the first to use modern production methods, and textiles became the dominant industry in terms of employment, value of output, and capital invested.

British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23 per cent of the world population at the time, and by 1920, it covered 35.5 million km2 (13.7 million sq mi), 24 per cent of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its constitutional, legal, linguistic, and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it was described as "the empire on which the sun never sets", as the Sun was always shining on at least one of its territories.

1973 oil crisis

1973 oil crisis

The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The initial nations targeted were Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States, though the embargo also later extended to Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa. By the end of the embargo in March 1974, the price of oil had risen nearly 300%, from US$3 per barrel ($19/m3) to nearly $12 per barrel ($75/m3) globally; US prices were significantly higher. The embargo caused an oil crisis, or "shock", with many short- and long-term effects on global politics and the global economy. It was later called the "first oil shock", followed by the 1979 oil crisis, termed the "second oil shock".

Edward Heath

Edward Heath

Sir Edward Richard George Heath, often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath also served for 51 years as a Member of Parliament from 1950 to 2001. Outside politics, Heath was a yachtsman, a musician, and an author.

Harold Wilson

Harold Wilson

James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He was the Leader of the Labour Party from 1963 to 1976, and was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1983. Wilson is the only Labour leader to have formed administrations following four general elections.

February 1974 United Kingdom general election

February 1974 United Kingdom general election

The February 1974 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 28 February 1974. The Labour Party, led by Leader of the Opposition and former Prime Minister Harold Wilson, gained 14 seats, but was seventeen short of an overall majority. The Conservative Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister Edward Heath, lost 28 seats; but achieved a higher share of the vote than Labour. This resulted in a hung parliament, the first since 1929. Heath sought a coalition with the Liberals, but the two parties failed to come to an agreement and then Wilson became Prime Minister for a second time, his first under a minority government. Because Labour was unable to form a majority coalition with another party, Wilson called another early election in September, which was held in October and resulted in a Labour majority. This was also the first general election to be held with the United Kingdom as a member state of the European Communities (EC)—widely known as the "Common Market".

Hung parliament

Hung parliament

A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition has an absolute majority of legislators in a parliament or other legislature. This situation is also known as a balanced parliament, or as a legislature under no overall control (NOC), and can result in a minority government. The term is irrelevant/almost ubiquitous in multi-party systems and proportional representation systems where it is rare for a single party to hold a majority of the seats.

International Monetary Fund

International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world." Formed in 1944, started on 27 December 1945, at the Bretton Woods Conference primarily by the ideas of Harry Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes, it came into formal existence in 1945 with 29 member countries and the goal of reconstructing the international monetary system. It now plays a central role in the management of balance of payments difficulties and international financial crises. Countries contribute funds to a pool through a quota system from which countries experiencing balance of payments problems can borrow money. As of 2016, the fund had XDR 477 billion. The IMF is regarded as the global lender of last resort.

• 

  GDP year-on-year growth, 1949–2020

• 

  Workforce distribution in Great Britain 1841–1911, and in England and Wales 1921–2011

• 

  Unemployment rates, 1881–2017

• 

  Recovery periods for each recession (measured as GDP per capita), 1920–2009

• 

  Productivity, 1971–2019

• 

  Interest rates, 1800–2020

• 

  Balance of trade, 1948–2020

• 

  Balance of trade in crude oil and petroleum, 1890–2015

• 

  United Kingdom bonds Inverted yield curve 1988-1991

The Bank of England, London

Government involvement in the economy is primarily exercised by HM Treasury, headed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In recent years, the UK economy has been managed in accordance with principles of market liberalisation and low taxation and regulation. Since 1997, the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, headed by the Governor of the Bank of England, has been responsible for setting interest rates at the level necessary to achieve the overall inflation target for the economy that is set by the Chancellor each year.^[143] The Scottish Government, subject to the approval of the Scottish Parliament, has the power to vary the basic rate of income tax payable in Scotland by plus or minus 3 pence in the pound, though this power has not yet been exercised.

In the 20-year period from 1986/87 to 2006/07 government spending in the UK averaged around 40% of GDP.^[144] In July 2007, the UK had government debt at 35.5% of GDP.^[145] As a result of the 2007–2010 financial crisis and the late-2000s global recession, government spending increased to a historically high level of 48% of GDP in 2009–10, partly as a result of the cost of a series of bank bailouts.^[144][145] In terms of net government debt as a percentage of GDP, at the end of June 2014 public sector net debt excluding financial sector interventions was £1304.6 billion, equivalent to 77.3% of GDP.^[146] For the financial year of 2013–2014 public sector net borrowing was £93.7 billion.^[146] This was £13.0 billion higher than in the financial year of 2012–2013.

Taxation in the United Kingdom may involve payments to at least two different levels of government: local government and central government (HM Revenue & Customs). Local government is financed by grants from central government funds, business rates, council tax, and, increasingly, fees and charges such as those from on-street parking. Central government revenues are mainly from income tax, national insurance contributions, value added tax, corporation tax and fuel duty.

Discover more about Government spending and economic management related topics

Budget of the United Kingdom

Budget of the United Kingdom

The Budget of His Majesty's Government is an annual budget set by HM Treasury for the following financial year, with the revenues to be gathered by HM Revenue and Customs and the expenditures of the public sector, in compliance with government policy. The budget statement is one of two statements made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the House of Commons, with the Spring Statement being made the following year.

HM Treasury

HM Treasury

His Majesty's Treasury, occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and economic policy. The Treasury maintains the Online System for Central Accounting and Reporting (OSCAR), the replacement for the Combined Online Information System (COINS), which itemises departmental spending under thousands of category headings, and from which the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) annual financial statements are produced.

Monetary Policy Committee (United Kingdom)

Monetary Policy Committee (United Kingdom)

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is a committee of the Bank of England, which meets for three and a half days, eight times a year, to decide the official interest rate in the United Kingdom.

Official bank rate

Official bank rate

In the United Kingdom, the official bank rate is the rate that the Bank of England charges banks and financial institutions for loans with a maturity of 1 day. It is the British Government's key interest rate for enacting monetary policy. It is more analogous to the US discount rate than to the federal funds rate. The security for the lending can be any of a list of eligible securities and the transactions are overnight repurchase agreements. Changes are recommended by the Monetary Policy Committee and enacted by the Governor.

Government debt

Government debt

A country's gross government debt is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit occurs when a government's expenditures exceed revenues. Government debt may be owed to domestic residents, as well as to foreign residents. If owed to foreign residents, that quantity is included in the country's external debt.

Gross domestic product

Gross domestic product

Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold in a specific time period by a country or countries, generally "without double counting the intermediate goods and services used up to produce them". GDP is most often used by the government of a single country to measure its economic health. Due to its complex and subjective nature, this measure is often revised before being considered a reliable indicator. GDP (nominal) per capita does not, however, reflect differences in the cost of living and the inflation rates of the countries; therefore, using a basis of GDP per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP) may be more useful when comparing living standards between nations, while nominal GDP is more useful comparing national economies on the international market. Total GDP can also be broken down into the contribution of each industry or sector of the economy. The ratio of GDP to the total population of the region is the per capita GDP.

2008 United Kingdom bank rescue package

2008 United Kingdom bank rescue package

In the period September 2007 to December 2009, during the events now widely known as the Global Financial Crisis, the UK government enacted a number of financial interventions in support of the UK banking sector and four UK banks in particular.

Debt-to-GDP ratio

Debt-to-GDP ratio

In economics, the debt-to-GDP ratio is the ratio between a country's government debt and its gross domestic product (GDP). A low debt-to-GDP ratio indicates that an economy produces goods and services sufficient to pay back debts without incurring further debt. Geopolitical and economic considerations – including interest rates, war, recessions, and other variables – influence the borrowing practices of a nation and the choice to incur further debt.

Taxation in the United Kingdom

Taxation in the United Kingdom

Taxation in the United Kingdom may involve payments to at least three different levels of government: central government, devolved governments and local government. Central government revenues come primarily from income tax, National Insurance contributions, value added tax, corporation tax and fuel duty. Local government revenues come primarily from grants from central government funds, business rates in England, Council Tax and increasingly from fees and charges such as those for on-street parking. In the fiscal year 2014–15, total government revenue was forecast to be £648 billion, or 37.7 per cent of GDP, with net taxes and National Insurance contributions standing at £606 billion.

Decriminalised parking enforcement

Decriminalised parking enforcement

Decriminalised parking enforcement (DPE) is the name given in the United Kingdom to the civil enforcement of car parking regulations, carried out by civil enforcement officers, operating on behalf of a local authority. The Road Traffic Act 1991 (c. 40) provided for the decriminalisation of parking-related contraventions committed within controlled parking zones (CPZ) administered by local councils across the UK. The CPZs under the control of the local councils are also referred to as yellow routes and they can be easily identified with yellow lines marked on the roads with relevant time plates. Councils employ parking attendants to enforce their CPZs directly.

Income tax

Income tax

An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them. Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Taxation rates may vary by type or characteristics of the taxpayer and the type of income.

United Kingdom corporation tax

United Kingdom corporation tax

Corporation tax in the United Kingdom is a corporate tax levied in on the profits made by UK-resident companies and on the profits of entities registered overseas with permanent establishments in the UK.

Agriculture

A field of wheat in England

Agriculture in the UK is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards. The country produces around 65% of its food needs. The self-sufficiency level was just under 50% in the 1950s, peaking at 80% in the 1980s, before declining to its present level at the turn of the 21st century.^[147] Agriculture added gross value of £12.18 billion to the economy in 2018, and around 392,000 people were employed in agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing. It contributes around 0.6% of the UK's national GDP.^[148] Around two-thirds of production by value is devoted to livestock, and one-third to arable crops.^[149] The agri-food sector as a whole (agriculture and food manufacturing, wholsale, catering, and retail) was worth £120 billion and accounts for 4 million jobs in the UK.^[150]

Construction

The construction industry of the United Kingdom employed around 2.3 million people and contributed gross value of £123.2 billion to the economy in 2019.^[148]

One of the largest construction projects in the UK in recent years was Crossrail, costing an estimated £19 billion. Due to start opening by Christmas 2021,^[151] it will be a new railway line running east to west through London and into the surrounding area, with a branch to Heathrow Airport.^[152] The main feature of the project is construction of 42 km (26 mi) of new tunnels connecting stations in central London.^[153] Ongoing construction projects include the High Speed 2 line between London and the West Midlands. Crossrail 2 is a proposed rail route in the South East of England.

Production industries

Electricity, gas and water

This sector added gross value of £51.4 billion to the economy in 2018.^[148] The United Kingdom is expected to launch the building of new nuclear reactors to replace existing generators and to boost the UK's energy reserves.^[154]

Manufacturing

A Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 jet engine made in the UK

In the 1970s, manufacturing accounted for 25 percent of the economy. Total employment in manufacturing fell from 7.1 million in 1979 to 4.5 million in 1992 and only 2.7 million in 2016, when it accounted for 10% of the economy.^[155][156]

Manufacturing has increased in 36 of the last 50 years and was twice in 2007 what it was in 1958.^[157]

In 2011 the UK manufacturing sector generated approximately £140.5 billion in gross value added and employed around 2.6 million people.^[158][159] Of the approximately £16 billion invested in R&D by UK businesses in 2008, approximately £12 billion was by manufacturing businesses.^[159] In 2008, the UK was the sixth-largest manufacturer in the world measured by value of output.^[160]

In 2008 around 180,000 people in the UK were directly employed in the UK automotive manufacturing sector.^[161] In that year the sector had a turnover of £52.5 billion, generated £26.6 billion of exports^[162] and produced around 1.45 million passenger vehicles and 203,000 commercial vehicles.^[161] The UK is a major centre for engine manufacturing, and in 2008 around 3.16 million engines were produced in the country.^[161]

The aerospace industry of the UK is the second- or third-largest aerospace industry in the world, depending upon the method of measurement.^[163][164] The industry employs around 113,000 people directly and around 276,000 indirectly and has an annual turnover of around £20 billion.^[165][166] British companies with a major presence in the industry include BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce (the world's second-largest aircraft engine maker).^[167] European aerospace companies active in the UK include Airbus, whose commercial aircraft, space, helicopter and defence divisions employ over 13,500 people across more than 25 UK sites.^[168]

The pharmaceutical industry employs around 67,000 people in the UK and in 2007 contributed £8.4 billion to the UK's GDP and invested a total of £3.9 billion in research and development.^[169][170] In 2007 exports of pharmaceutical products from the UK totalled £14.6 billion, creating a trade surplus in pharmaceutical products of £4.3 billion.^[171] The UK is home to GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, respectively the world's third- and seventh-largest pharmaceutical companies.^[172][173]

Mining, quarrying and hydrocarbons

The Blue Book 2013 reports that this sector added gross value of £31.4 billion to the UK economy in 2011.^[158] In 2007 the UK had a total energy output of 9.5 quadrillion Btus (10 exajoules), of which the composition was oil (38%), natural gas (36%), coal (13%), nuclear (11%) and other renewables (2%).^[174] In 2009, the UK produced 1.5 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil and consumed 1.7 million bbl/d.^[175] Production is now in decline and the UK has been a net importer of oil since 2005.^[175] As of 2010 the UK has around 3.1 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, the largest of any EU member state.^[175]

In 2009 the UK was the 13th largest producer of natural gas in the world and the largest producer in the EU.^[176] Production is now in decline and the UK has been a net importer of natural gas since 2004.^[176] In 2009 the UK produced 19.7 million tons of coal and consumed 60.2 million tons.^[174] In 2005 it had proven recoverable coal reserves of 171 million tons.^[174] It has been estimated that identified onshore areas have the potential to produce between 7 billion tonnes and 16 billion tonnes of coal through underground coal gasification (UCG).^[177] Based on current UK coal consumption, these volumes represent reserves that could last the UK between 200 and 400 years.^[178]

The UK is home to a number of large energy companies, including two of the six oil and gas "supermajors" – BP and Royal Dutch Shell.^[179][180]

The UK is also rich in a number of natural resources including coal, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead and silica.

Service industries

The service sector is the dominant sector of the UK economy, and it accounted for 79% of GDP in 2019.^[48]

Creative industries

The creative industries accounted for 7% of gross value added (GVA) in 2005 and grew at an average of 6% per annum between 1997 and 2005.^[181] Key areas include London and the North West of England, which are the two largest creative industry clusters in Europe.^[182] According to the British Fashion Council, the fashion industry's contribution to the UK economy in 2014 is £26 billion, up from £21 billion in 2009.^[183] The UK is home to the world's largest advertising company, WPP.

Education, health and social work

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, a major NHS hospital

According to The Blue Book 2013 the education sector added a gross value of £84.6 billion in 2011 whilst human health and social work activities added £104.0 billion in 2011.^[158]

In the UK the majority of the healthcare sector consists of the state funded and operated National Health Service (NHS), which accounts for over 80% of all healthcare spending in the UK and has a workforce of around 1.7 million, making it the largest employer in Europe, and putting it amongst the largest employers in the world.^{[184][185][186]} The NHS operates independently in each of the four constituent countries of the UK. The NHS in England is by far the largest of the four parts and had a turnover of £92.5 billion in 2008.^[187]

In 2007/08 higher education institutions in the UK had a total income of £23 billion and employed a total of 169,995 staff.^[188] In 2007/08 there were 2,306,000 higher education students in the UK (1,922,180 in England, 210,180 in Scotland, 125,540 in Wales and 48,200 in Northern Ireland).^[188]

Financial and business services

The UK financial services industry added gross value of £116.4 billion to the UK economy in 2011.^[158] The UK's exports of financial and business services make a significant positive contribution towards the country's balance of payments.

Paternoster Square, home of the London Stock Exchange

London is a major centre for international business and commerce and is one of the three "command centres" of the global economy (alongside New York City and Tokyo).^[189] There are over 500 banks with offices in London, and it is the leading international centre for banking, insurance, Eurobonds, foreign exchange trading and energy futures. London's financial services industry is primarily based in the City of London and Canary Wharf. The City houses the London Stock Exchange, the London Metal Exchange, Lloyd's of London, and the Bank of England. Canary Wharf began development in the 1980s and is now home to major financial institutions such as Barclays Bank, Citigroup and HSBC, as well as the UK Financial Services Authority.^[190][191] London is also a major centre for other business and professional services, and four of the six largest law firms in the world are headquartered there.^[192]

Several other major UK cities have large financial sectors and related services. Edinburgh has one of the largest financial centres in Europe^[193] and is home to the headquarters of Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest Group and Standard Life. Leeds is the UK's largest centre for business and financial services outside London,^{[194][195][196]} and the largest centre for legal services in the UK after London.^{[197][198][199]}

According to a series of research papers and reports published in the mid-2010s, Britain's financial firms provide sophisticated methods to launder billions of pounds annually, including money from the proceeds of corruption around the world as well as the world's drug trade, thus making the city a global hub for illicit finance.^{[200][201][202][203]} According to a Deutsche Bank study published in March 2015, Britain was attracting circa one billion pounds of capital inflows a month not recorded by official statistics, up to 40 percent probably originating from Russia, which implies misreporting by financial institutions, sophisticated tax avoidance, and the UK's "safe-haven" reputation.^[204]

Hotels and restaurants

The Blue Book 2013 reports that this industry added gross value of £36.6 billion to the UK economy in 2011.^[158] InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), headquartered in Denham, Buckinghamshire, is currently the world's largest hotelier, owning and operating hotel brands such as InterContinental, Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza. The international arm of Hilton Hotels, the world's fifth largest hotelier, used to be owned by Ladbrokes Plc, and was headquartered in Watford, Hertfordshire from 1987 to 2005. It was sold to Hilton Hotels Group of the US in December 2005.

Informal

A study in 2014 found that sex work and associated services added over £5 billion to the economy each year.^[205]

Public administration and defence

The Blue Book 2013 reports that this sector added gross value of £70.4 billion to the UK economy in 2011.^[158]

Real estate and renting activities

The Trafford Centre shopping complex in Manchester was sold for £1.6 billion in 2011 in the largest property sale in British history.^[206]

Notable real estate companies in the United Kingdom include British Land, Land Securities, and The Peel Group. The UK property market boomed for the seven years up to 2008, and in some areas property trebled in value over that period. The increase in property prices had a number of causes: low interest rates, credit growth, economic growth, rapid growth in buy-to-let property investment, foreign property investment in London and planning restrictions on the supply of new housing. In England and Wales between 1997 and 2016, average house prices increased by 259%, while earnings increased by 68%. An average home cost 3.6 times annual earnings in 1997 compared to 7.6 in 2016.^[207] Rent has nearly doubled as a share of GDP since 1985, and is now larger than the manufacturing sector. In 2014, rent and imputed rent – an estimate of how much home-owners would pay if they rented their home – accounted for 12.3% of GDP.^[208]

Tourism

The British Museum received 6.2 million visitors in 2019.^[209]

With over 40 million visits in 2019, inbound tourism contributed £28.5 billion to the British economy, although just over half of that money was spent in London,^[210] which was the third most visited city in the world (21.7 million), behind second-placed Bangkok and first-placed Hong Kong.^[211]

The UK's 10 most significant inbound tourism markets in 2019:^[212]

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

The travel restrictions and lockdowns necessitated by the pandemic negatively affected the entire hospitality/tourism section in 2020 with a 76% reduction in "inbound tourism" to the UK that year according to VisitBritain. The January 2021 forecast for the year indicated an estimate that visits from other nations would be up "21% on 2020 but only 29% of the 2019 level". Some increase was expected during 2021, slowly at first; the tourism authority concluded that the number of visits was not expected to come "even close to normal levels".^[213]

The same VisitBritain report also discussed the effects of the pandemic on domestic travel within the UK in 2020, citing a significant reduction in spending, for an estimated decline of 62% over the previous year. As of January 2021, the forecast for the year suggested that spending would increase by 79% over the previous year and that "the value of spending will be back to 84% of 2019 levels" by the end of 2021.^[214]

Some of the "COVID-19 restrictions" on domestic travel were to be loosened on 12 April 2021 and the UK planned to begin relaxing some restrictions on travel from other nations in mid May.^[215] The latter plan became less certain as of 8 April 2021 when sources in the European Union stated on that a "third wave of the pandemic [was sweeping] the continent"; the B117 variant was of particular concern.^[216] Two days earlier, PM Boris Johnson had made it clear that "We don't want to see the virus being reimported into this country from abroad".^[217]

Transport, storage and communication

Transport modal share from 1952 to 2016, showing the initial rise in car use, which peaked in 1994 and declined gently as rail use increased^[218]

The transport and storage industry added a gross value of £59.2 billion to the UK economy in 2011 and the telecommunication industry added a gross value of £25.1 billion in the same year.^[158]

The UK has a total road network of 246,700 miles (397,025 km) with 31,400 miles (50,533 km) of major roads, including 2,300 miles (3,701 km) of motorway.^[219] The railway infrastructure, in Great Britain, is owned by Network Rail which has 19,291 miles (31,046 km) of railway lines, of which 9,866 miles (15,878 km) is open for traffic.^[220] There are a further 206.5 miles (332.3 km) of track in Northern Ireland, owned and operated by Northern Ireland Railways.^[221] Since the privatisation of British Rail, passenger trains in Britain are run by train operating companies. As of 2019^[update], there are 32 TOCs.^[222] The government is to spend £56 billion on a new high-speed railway line, HS2, with the first phase from London to Birmingham costing £27 billion.^[223] Crossrail, due to open in London during Autumn 2019, is Europe's largest infrastructure project with a £15 billion projected cost.^[224]

National Highways is the government-owned company responsible for trunk roads and motorways in England apart from the privately owned and operated M6 Toll.^[225] The Department for Transport states that traffic congestion is one of the most serious transport problems and that it could cost England an extra £22 billion in wasted time by 2025 if left unchecked.^[226] According to the government-sponsored Eddington report of 2006, congestion is in danger of harming the economy, unless tackled by road pricing and expansion of the transport network.^[227][228]

In the year from February 2017 to January 2018, UK airports handled a total of 284.8 million passengers.^[229] In that period the three largest airports were London Heathrow Airport (78.0 million passengers), Gatwick Airport (45.6 million passengers) and Manchester Airport (27.8 million passengers).^[229] Heathrow, located 14+1⁄2 miles (23.3 km) west of the capital,^[230] has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the world.^[231] It is the hub for the UK flag carrier British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.^[232] London's six commercial airports form the world's largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic with 171 million passengers in 2017.^[233]

Wholesale and retail trade

This sector includes the motor trade, auto repairs, personal and household goods industries. The Blue Book 2013 reports that this sector added gross value of £151.8 billion to the UK economy in 2011.^[158]

As of 2016, high-street retail spending accounted for about 33% of consumer spending and 20% of GDP. Because 75% of goods bought in the United Kingdom are made overseas, the sector only accounts for 5.7% of gross value added to the British economy.^[234] Online sales account for 22% of retail spending in the UK, third highest in the world after China and South Korea, and double that of the United States.^[235]

The UK grocery market is dominated by four companies: Tesco (26.9% market share), Sainsbury's (14.8%), Asda (14.3%) and Morrisons (8.8%) in March 2023, these supermarkets are known as the "Big Four". However discount supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl have grown in popularity, with Aldi's market share now worth 9.9%.^[236][237]

London is a major retail centre and in 2010 had the highest non-food retail sales of any city in the world, with a total spend of around £64.2 billion. Outside of London, Manchester and Birmingham are also major retail destinations, the UK is also home to many large out of town shopping centres like Meadowhall, away from the main high streets in town and city centres. Whilst the big international names dominate most towns and cities have streets or areas with many often quirky independent businesses.^[238] The UK-based Tesco is the fourth-largest retailer in Europe measured by turnover (after Swartz, Aldi, and Carrefour in 2019).^[239]

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Agriculture in the United Kingdom

Agriculture in the United Kingdom

Agriculture in the United Kingdom uses 71% of the country's land area, employs 1% of its workforce and contributes 0.5% of its gross value added. The UK currently produces about 60% of its domestic food consumption.

Forestry in the United Kingdom

Forestry in the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom, being in the British Isles, is ideal for tree growth, thanks to its mild winters, plentiful rainfall, fertile soil and hill-sheltered topography. Growth rates for broadleaved (hardwood) trees exceed those of mainland Europe, while conifer (softwood) growth rates are three times those of Sweden and five times those of Finland. In the absence of people, much of Great Britain would be covered with mature oaks, except for Scotland. Although conditions for forestry are good, trees do face damage threats arising from fungi, parasites and pests. The development of afforestation and the production and supply of timber in Wales come under Natural Resources Wales, as set out in the Forestry Act 1967.

Agronomy

Agronomy

Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. It is the application of a combination of sciences such as biology, chemistry, economics, ecology, earth science, and genetics. Professionals of agronomy are termed agronomists.

Construction industry of the United Kingdom

Construction industry of the United Kingdom

The construction industry of the United Kingdom is one of the major industry sectors in the UK economy, contributing about 6% of UK gross value added in 2019. In 2018, it was, by GVA, the sixth biggest construction sector in the world.

Crossrail

Crossrail

Crossrail is a railway construction project centred around London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway lines terminating in London: the Great Western Main Line and the Great Eastern Main Line. The project was approved in 2007, and construction began in 2009 on the central section and connections to existing lines that became part of the route, which has been branded the Elizabeth line in honour of Queen Elizabeth II who opened the line on 17 May 2022 during her Platinum Jubilee. The central section of the line between Paddington and Abbey Wood opened on 24 May 2022, with 12 trains per hour running in each direction through the core section in Central London

Heathrow Airport

Heathrow Airport

Heathrow Airport, called London Airport until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow, is the main international airport serving London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system. The airport is owned and operated by Heathrow Airport Holdings. In 2021, it was the seventh-busiest airport in the world by international passenger traffic and the second busiest airport in Europe.

Crossrail 2

Crossrail 2

Crossrail 2 is a proposed hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit route in South East England, running from nine stations in Surrey to three in Hertfordshire, providing a new North–South rail link across Greater London. It would connect the South West Main Line to the West Anglia Main Line, via Victoria and King's Cross St Pancras. It is intended to alleviate severe overcrowding that would otherwise occur on commuter rail routes into Central London by the 2030s. Should permission be granted, construction is expected to start around 2023, with the new line opening from the early 2030s. The project's cost has been estimated at £31.2 billion.

Energy in the United Kingdom

Energy in the United Kingdom

Energy in the United Kingdom came mostly from fossil fuels in 2021. Total energy consumption in the United Kingdom was 142.0 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2019. In 2014, the UK had an energy consumption per capita of 2.78 tonnes of oil equivalent compared to a world average of 1.92 tonnes of oil equivalent. Demand for electricity in 2014 was 34.42 GW on average coming from a total electricity generation of 335.0 TWh.

Automotive industry in the United Kingdom

Automotive industry in the United Kingdom

The automotive industry in the United Kingdom is now best known for premium and sports car marques including Aston Martin, Bentley, Caterham Cars, Daimler, Jaguar, Lagonda, Land Rover, Lister Cars, Lotus, McLaren, MG, Mini, MOKE, Morgan and Rolls-Royce. Volume car manufacturers with a major presence in the UK include Nissan, Toyota and Vauxhall Motors. Commercial vehicle manufacturers active in the UK include Alexander Dennis, Ford, IBC Vehicles, Leyland Trucks and London Electric Vehicle Company.

Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom

Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom

The aerospace industry of the United Kingdom is the second-largest national aerospace industry in the world and the largest in Europe by turnover, with a global market share of 17% in 2019. In 2020, the industry employed 116,000 people.

BAE Systems

BAE Systems

BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. As of 2017, it is the biggest manufacturer in Britain. Its largest operations are in the United Kingdom and United States, where its BAE Systems Inc. subsidiary is one of the six largest suppliers to the US Department of Defense. Other major markets include Australia, Canada, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Oman and Sweden, where Saudi Arabia is regularly among its top three sources of revenue. The company was formed on 30 November 1999 by the £7.7 billion purchase of and merger with Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc (GEC), by British Aerospace, an aircraft, munitions and naval systems manufacturer.

Airbus

Airbus

Airbus SE is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells commercial aircraft and has separate Defence and Space and Helicopters divisions. As of 2019, Airbus is the world's largest manufacturer of airliners as well as the leading helicopter manufacturer.

London is the world capital for foreign exchange trading, with a global market share of 43.1% in 2019 of the daily $6.6 trillion global turnover. The highest daily volume, counted in trillions of dollars US, is reached when New York enters the trade.

The currency of the UK is the pound sterling, represented by the symbol "£'. The Bank of England is the central bank, responsible for issuing currency. Banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland retain the right to issue their own notes, subject to retaining enough Bank of England notes in reserve to cover the issue. The pound sterling is also used as a reserve currency by other governments and institutions, and is the third-largest after the US dollar and the euro.^[240]

The UK chose not to join the euro at the currency's launch. The government of former Prime Minister Tony Blair had pledged to hold a referendum to decide on membership should "five economic tests" be met. Until relatively recently there was debate over whether or not the UK should abolish its currency and adopt the euro. In 2007 the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, pledged to hold a public referendum based on certain tests he set as Chancellor of the Exchequer. When assessing the tests, Brown concluded that while the decision was close, the United Kingdom should not yet join the euro. He ruled out membership for the foreseeable future, saying that the decision not to join had been right for the UK and for Europe.^[241] In particular, he cited fluctuations in house prices as a barrier to immediate entry. Public opinion polls have shown that a majority of Britons have been opposed to joining the single currency for some considerable time, and this position has hardened further in the last few years.^[242] In 2005, more than half (55%) of the UK were against adopting the currency, while 30% were in favour.^[243] The possibility of joining the euro has become a non-issue since the referendum decision to withdraw from the European Union in 2016 and subsequent withdrawal in 2020.

Exchange rates

Average for each year, in USD (US dollar) and EUR (euro) per GBP; and inversely: GBP per USD and EUR. (Synthetic Euro XEU before 1999). These averages conceal wide intra-year spreads. The coefficient of variation gives an indication of this. It also shows the extent to which the pound tracks the euro or the dollar. Note the effect of Black Wednesday in late 1992 by comparing the averages for 1992 and for 1993.

For consistency and comparison purposes, coefficient of variation is measured on both the "per pound" ratios, although it is conventional to show the forex rates as dollars per pound and pounds per euro.

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Pound sterling

Pound sterling

Sterling is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of sterling, and the word "pound" is also used to refer to the British currency generally, often qualified in international contexts as the British pound or the pound sterling.

Foreign exchange market

Foreign exchange market

The foreign exchange market is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all aspects of buying, selling and exchanging currencies at current or determined prices. In terms of trading volume, it is by far the largest market in the world, followed by the credit market.

New York City

New York City

New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km2), New York City is the most densely populated major city in the United States and more than twice as populous as Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest city. New York City is located at the southern tip of New York State. It constitutes the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by both population and urban area. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York is one of the world's most populous megacities, and over 58 million people live within 250 mi (400 km) of the city. New York City is a global cultural, financial, entertainment, and media center with a significant influence on commerce, health care and life sciences, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, dining, art, fashion, and sports. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy, and is sometimes described as the capital of the world.

Pound sign

Pound sign

The pound sign £ is the symbol for the pound unit of sterling – the currency of the United Kingdom and previously of Great Britain and of the Kingdom of England. The same symbol is used for other currencies called pound, such as the Gibraltar, Egyptian, Manx and Syrian pounds. The sign may be drawn with one or two bars depending on personal preference, but the Bank of England has used the one-bar style exclusively on banknotes since 1975.

Reserve currency

Reserve currency

A reserve currency is a foreign currency that is held in significant quantities by central banks or other monetary authorities as part of their foreign exchange reserves. The reserve currency can be used in international transactions, international investments and all aspects of the global economy. It is often considered a hard currency or safe-haven currency.

Euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of 20 of the 27 member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 344 million citizens as of 2023. The euro is divided into 100 cents.

Referendum

Referendum

A referendum is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a new policy or specific law, or the referendum may be only advisory. In some countries, it is synonymous with and also known as plebiscite, votation, popular consultation, ballot question, ballot measure, or proposition.

Five economic tests

Five economic tests

The five economic tests were the criteria defined by the UK treasury under Gordon Brown that were to be used to assess the UK's readiness to join the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union (EMU), and so adopt the euro as its official currency. In principle, these tests were distinct from any political decision to join.

Opinion poll

Opinion poll

An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals. A person who conducts polls is referred to as a pollster.

Coefficient of variation

Coefficient of variation

In probability theory and statistics, the coefficient of variation (CV), also known as relative standard deviation (RSD), is a standardized measure of dispersion of a probability distribution or frequency distribution. It is often expressed as a percentage, and is defined as the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean . The CV or RSD is widely used in analytical chemistry to express the precision and repeatability of an assay. It is also commonly used in fields such as engineering or physics when doing quality assurance studies and ANOVA gauge R&R, by economists and investors in economic models, and in neuroscience.

Black Wednesday

Black Wednesday

Black Wednesday occurred on 16 September 1992 when the UK Government was forced to withdraw sterling from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), after a failed attempt to keep its exchange rate above the lower limit required for the ERM participation. At that time, the United Kingdom held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The strength of the UK economy varies from country to country and from region to region. Excluding the effects of North Sea oil and gas (which is classified in official statistics as extra-regio), England has the highest gross value added (GVA) and Wales the lowest of the UK's constituent countries.

Within England, GVA per capita is highest in London. The following table shows the GVA per capita of the nine statistical regions of England.

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List of ceremonial counties in England by gross value added

List of ceremonial counties in England by gross value added

This is a list of ceremonial counties in England by gross value added for the year 2013. Data is gathered by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and is given in terms of Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), statistical area codes used for the European Union, which loosely follow administrative units of the United Kingdom.

Gross value added

Gross value added

In economics, gross value added (GVA) is the measure of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy. "Gross value added is the value of output minus the value of intermediate consumption; it is a measure of the contribution to GDP made by an individual producer, industry or sector; gross value added is the source from which the primary incomes of the System of National Accounts (SNA) are generated and is therefore carried forward into the primary distribution of income account."

England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea area of the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a 96-mile (154-kilometre) border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the northeast and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. It also contains more than 790 islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. Most of the population, including the capital Edinburgh, is concentrated in the Central Belt—the plain between the Scottish Highlands and the Southern Uplands—in the Scottish Lowlands.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares an open border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2021, its population was 1,903,100, making up about 27% of Ireland's population and about 3% of the UK's population. The Northern Ireland Assembly, established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the UK Government. The government of Northern Ireland cooperates with the government of the Republic of Ireland in several areas agreed under the terms of the Belfast Agreement. The Republic of Ireland also has a consultative role on non-devolved governmental matters through the British-Irish Governmental Conference (BIIG).

London

London

London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a 50-mile (80 km) estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and retains its medieval boundaries. The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which since 1965 has largely comprised Greater London, which is governed by 33 local authorities and the Greater London Authority.

Regions of England

Regions of England

The regions, formerly known as the government office regions, are the highest tier of sub-national division in England, established in 1994. Between 1994 and 2011, nine regions had officially devolved functions within government. While they no longer fulfil this role, they continue to be used for statistical and some administrative purposes. While the UK was a member of the European Union, they defined areas (constituencies) for the purposes of elections to the European Parliament. Eurostat also used them to demarcate first level Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) regions within the European Union, which in 2021 were superseded by International Territorial Level (ITL) regions. The regions generally follow the boundaries of the former standard regions, established in the 1940s for statistical purposes.

South East England

South East England

South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex. Major towns and cities in the region include Brighton and Hove, Milton Keynes, Southampton, Portsmouth, Slough, Reading and Oxford.

East of England

East of England

The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Essex has the highest population in the region.

North West England

North West England

North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,052,000 in 2011. It is the third-most-populated region in the United Kingdom, after the South East and Greater London. The largest settlements are Manchester and Liverpool.

East Midlands

East Midlands

The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. The region has an area of 15,627 km2 (6,034 sq mi), with a population over 4.5 million in 2011. The most populous settlements in the region are Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Mansfield, Northampton and Nottingham. Other notable settlements include Boston, Buxton, Chesterfield, Corby, Coalville, Gainsborough, Glossop, Grantham, Hinckley, Kettering, Loughborough, Louth, Market Harborough, Matlock, Newark-on-Trent, Oakham, Skegness, Wellingborough, Worksop and Towcester

North East England

North East England

North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region: combined authority, unitary authority or metropolitan borough, and civil parishes. They are also multiple divisions without administrative functions; ceremonial county, emergency services, built-up areas and historic county. The most populous places in the region are Newcastle upon Tyne (city), Middlesbrough, Sunderland (city), Gateshead, Darlington and Hartlepool. Durham also has city status.

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Value of UK exports at constant prices, 1995–2016

The trade deficit (goods and services) narrowed £0.2 billion to £7.9 billion in the three months to November 2018 as both goods and services exports each increased £0.1 billion more than their respective imports.^[248]

Excluding erratic commodities (mainly aircraft) the total trade deficit widened £1.2 billion to £9.5 billion in the three months to November 2018.

Large increases in export prices of oil and aircraft drove the narrowing of the total trade deficit; removing the effect of inflation, the total trade deficit widened £0.3 billion to £6.5 billion in the three months to November 2018.

The trade in goods deficit widened £0.8 billion with EU countries and narrowed £0.9 billion with non-EU countries in the three months to November 2018, due mainly to increases in imports from EU countries and exports to non-EU countries.

The total trade deficit widened £4.1 billion in the 12 months to November 2018 due mainly to a £4.4 billion narrowing in the trade in services surplus.

After the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the negotiation of a trade deal between the UK and the European Union including her 27 member states might have the same status than third countries for statistics related to imports and exports with the UK:

• According to OEC World 2017 data, the EU-27-2020 could become/stay one of the notable partners of the UK, with exports from the UK reaching near $200B, close from the United States ($45B, and China $21B).^[249]
• According to OEC World 2017 data, the EU-27-2020 could become/stay one of the notable partners of the UK, with imports to the UK reaching near $330B, close from the United States ($46B, and China $58B).^[250]

Trade deals being negotiated

• United Kingdom–United States free trade agreement
• EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement
• UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

Other Trade Deals

• Trade agreements of the United Kingdom

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List of exports of the United Kingdom

List of exports of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom–United States free trade agreement

United Kingdom–United States free trade agreement

The United Kingdom–United States Free Trade Agreement (UKUSFTA) is a proposed free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the United States. It was under negotiation as of 2020.

EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

The EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) is a free trade agreement signed on 30 December 2020, between the European Union (EU), the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), and the United Kingdom (UK). It provisionally applied from 1 January 2021, when the Brexit transition period ended, before formally entering into force on 1 May 2021, after the ratification processes on both sides were completed: the UK Parliament ratified on 30 December 2020; the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union ratified in late April 2021.

Trade agreements of the United Kingdom

Trade agreements of the United Kingdom

Following its withdrawal from the European Union on 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom began negotiations on several free trade agreements to remove or reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, both to establish new agreements and to replace previous EU trade agreements. Withdrawal ended 47 years of membership during which all its trading agreements were negotiated by the European Commission on behalf of the bloc as a whole. The UK did not actually withdraw from the European Single Market and the European Union Customs Union until 31 December 2020.

In 2013 the UK was the leading country in Europe for inward foreign direct investment (FDI) with $26.51bn. This gave it a 19.31% market share in Europe. In contrast, the UK was second in Europe for outward FDI, with $42.59bn, giving a 17.24% share of the European market.^[251]

In October 2017, the ONS revised the UK's balance of payments, changing the net international investment position from a surplus of £469bn to a deficit of £22bn. Deeper analysis of outward investment revealed that much of what was thought to be foreign debt securities owned by British companies were actually loans to British citizens. Inward investment also dropped, from a surplus of £120bn in the first half of 2016 to a deficit of £25bn in the same period of 2017. The UK had been relying on a surplus of inward investment to make up for its long-term current account deficit.^[252]

According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK is the biggest investor in America and the second biggest in China according to the former UK/ China ambassador.

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Foreign direct investment

Foreign direct investment

A foreign direct investment (FDI) is an investment in the form of a controlling ownership in a business, in real estate or in productive assets such as factories in one country by an entity based in another country. It is thus distinguished from a foreign portfolio investment or foreign indirect investment by a notion of direct control.

Balance of payments

Balance of payments

In international economics, the balance of payments of a country is the difference between all money flowing into the country in a particular period of time and the outflow of money to the rest of the world. These financial transactions are made by individuals, firms and government bodies to compare receipts and payments arising out of trade of goods and services.

Net international investment position

Net international investment position

The net international investment position (NIIP) is the difference in the external financial assets and liabilities of a country. External debt of a country includes government debt and private debt. External assets publicly and privately held by a country's legal residents are also taken into account when calculating NIIP. Commodities and currencies tend to follow a cyclical pattern of significant valuation changes, which is also reflected in NIIP.

Current account (balance of payments)

Current account (balance of payments)

In economics, a country's current account records the value of exports and imports of both goods and services and international transfers of capital. It is one of the two components of its balance of payments, the other being the capital account. Current account measures the nation's earnings and spendings abroad and it consists of the balance of trade, net primary income or factor income and net unilateral transfers, that have taken place over a given period of time. The current account balance is one of two major measures of a country's foreign trade. A current account surplus indicates that the value of a country's net foreign assets grew over the period in question, and a current account deficit indicates that it shrank. Both government and private payments are included in the calculation. It is called the current account because goods and services are generally consumed in the current period.

Office for National Statistics

Office for National Statistics

The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.

Since 1985 103,430 deals with UK participation have been announced. There have been three major waves of increased M&A activity (2000, 2007 and 2017; see graph "M&A in the UK"). 1999 however, was the year with the highest cumulated value of deals (490. bil GBP, which is about 50% more than the current peak of 2017). The Finance industry and Energy & Power made up most of the value from 2000 until 2018 (both about 15%).

Here is a list of the top 10 deals including UK companies.^[253] The Vodafone - Mannesmann deal is still the biggest deal in global history.

• In most cases both the acquiring and target companies have/had shareholders spread throughout the world, not only in the stated countries.

The proportion of the country's exports going to the EU has fallen from 54 percent to 47 percent over the past decade. The total value of exports however, has increased in the same period from £130 billion (€160 billion) to £240 billion (€275 billion).^[254][255]

In June 2016 the UK voted to leave the EU in a national referendum on its membership of the EU. After the activation of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the UK had been set to leave on Friday 29 March 2019. However the leave date was extended to Friday 12 April 2019 and then extended again to Thursday 31 October 2019,^[256] and then extended again until Friday 31 January 2020 with the ability to exit earlier.^[257] The future relationship between the UK and EU was under negotiation until the end of October 2019. UK economic growth slowed during 2019, with uncertainty over Brexit and a world economic slowdown blamed.^[258]

The UK left the EU in January 2020. On 16 July 2020, the government of UK affirmed that businesses across the United Kingdom, after the transition period ends, will continue to enjoy internal trade and jobs would remain protected against uncertain environment . From 1 January 2021, the powers which were previously exercised at an EU level in at least 70 policy areas were to directly transfer to the devolved administrations in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast for the first time.^[259]

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Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. The city was historically part of the county of Midlothian, but was administered separately from the surrounding county from 1482. It is located in Lothian on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. Edinburgh is Scotland's second-most populous city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous city in the United Kingdom.

Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of 362,310 in 2021, forms a principal area officially known as the City and County of Cardiff, and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingdom. Located in the south-east of Wales and in the Cardiff Capital Region, Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan and in 1974–1996 of South Glamorgan. It belongs to the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a port for coal when mining began in the region helped its expansion. In 1905, it was ranked as a city and in 1955 proclaimed capital of Wales. Cardiff Built-up Area covers a larger area outside the county boundary, including the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth.

Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 10th-largest primary urban area in the United Kingdom and the second-largest city in Ireland. It had a population of 345,418 in 2021.

The United Kingdom is a developed country with social welfare infrastructure, thus discussions surrounding poverty tend to use a relatively high minimum income compared to developing countries. According to the OECD, the UK is in the lower half of developed country rankings for poverty rates, doing better than Italy, Spain, and the US but less well than Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and the Nordic countries.^[260] Eurostat figures show that the numbers of Britons at risk of poverty has fallen to 15.9% in 2014, down from 17.1% in 2010 and 19% in 2005 (after social transfers were taken into account).^[261] Poverty is countered in United Kingdom with the welfare state.

The poverty line in the UK is commonly defined as being 60% of the median household income. In 2007–2008, this was calculated to be £115 per week for single adults with no dependent children; £199 per week for couples with no dependent children; £195 per week for single adults with two dependent children under 14; and £279 per week for couples with two dependent children under 14. In 2007–2008, 13.5 million people, or 22% of the population, lived below this line. This is a higher level of relative poverty than all but four EU members.^[262] In the same year, 4.0 million children, 31% of the total, lived in households below the poverty line, after housing costs were taken into account. This is a decrease of 400,000 children since 1998–1999.^[263]

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Poverty in the United Kingdom

Poverty in the United Kingdom

Poverty in the United Kingdom refers to the portion of the population of the United Kingdom that are considered to be in poverty under some measures of poverty.

Developed country

Developed country

A developed country is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy, and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized nations. Most commonly, the criteria for evaluating the degree of economic development are gross domestic product (GDP), gross national product (GNP), the per capita income, level of industrialization, amount of widespread infrastructure and general standard of living. Which criteria are to be used and which countries can be classified as being developed are subjects of debate. Different definitions of developed countries are provided by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; moreover, HDI ranking is used to reflect the composite index of life expectancy, education, and income per capita. Another commonly used measure of a developed country is the threshold of GDP (PPP) per capita of at least USD$22,000. In 2022, 36 countries fit all four criteria, while an additional 17 countries fit three out of four.

Austria

Austria

Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous city and state. Austria is bordered by Germany to the northwest, the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia to the northeast, Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The country occupies an area of 83,871 km2 (32,383 sq mi) and has a population of 9 million.

Hungary

Hungary

Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning 93,030 square kilometres (35,920 sq mi) of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and Slovenia to the southwest, and Austria to the west. Hungary has a population of 9.7 million, mostly ethnic Hungarians and a significant Romani minority. Hungarian, the official language, is the world's most widely spoken Uralic language and among the few non-Indo-European languages widely spoken in Europe. Budapest is the country's capital and largest city; other major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs, and Győr.

Slovakia

Slovakia

Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the southwest, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's mostly mountainous territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi), with a population of over 5.4 million. The capital and largest city is Bratislava, while the second largest city is Košice.

Nordic countries

Nordic countries

The Nordic countries are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden; the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland; and the autonomous region of Åland.

Eurostat

Eurostat

Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in the Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Eurostat’s main responsibilities are to provide statistical information to the institutions of the European Union (EU) and to promote the harmonisation of statistical methods across its member states and candidates for accession as well as EFTA countries. The organisations in the different countries that cooperate with Eurostat are summarised under the concept of the European Statistical System.

Welfare state

Welfare state

A welfare state is a form of government in which the state protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for citizens unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life.

The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2021 (with IMF staff estimates in 2022–2027). Inflation below 5% is in green.^[264]

Year	GDP (in Bil. US$PPP)	GDP per capita (in US$ PPP)	GDP (in Bil. US$nominal)	GDP per capita (in US$ nominal)	GDP growth (real)	Inflation rate (in %)	Unemployment (in %)	Government debt (in % of GDP)
1980	511.8	9,085.1	603.6	10,715.4	-2.1%	16.8%	7.1%	42.6%
1981	556.3	9,870.7	587.3	10,420.4	-0.7%	12.2%	9.7%	44.8%
1982	602.3	10,699.9	558.3	9,918.9	2.0%	8.5%	10.7%	43.1%
1983	652.2	11,580.6	532.1	9,448.7	4.2%	5.2%	11.5%	41.9%
1984	690.9	12,247.2	504.2	8,938.7	2.2%	4.4%	11.8%	42.3%
1985	742.1	13,121.9	536.6	9,488.1	4.1%	5.2%	11.4%	41.3%
1986	780.9	13,776.7	654.7	11,549.7	3.2%	3.6%	11.3%	41.3%
1987	843.4	14,847.8	813.1	14,315.0	5.4%	4.1%	10.4%	39.3%
1988	922.1	16,200.4	990.2	17,398.2	5.6%	4.6%	8.6%	37.1%
1989	981.6	17,198.6	1,008.4	17,667.9	2.4%	5.2%	7.2%	32.5%
1990	1,024.8	17,904.8	1,195.4	20,884.2	0.6%	7.0%	7.1%	28.5%
1991	1,046.9	18,226.8	1,250.3	21,767.1	-1.2%	7.5%	8.9%	28.4%
1992	1,074.1	18,653.1	1,292.1	22,438.0	0.3%	4.2%	10.0%	33.2%
1993	1,126.0	19,509.9	1,157.5	20,055.8	2.4%	2.5%	10.4%	37.9%
1994	1,193.4	20,624.6	1,244.0	21,499.6	3.8%	2.0%	9.5%	40.6%
1995	1,248.2	21,511.1	1,346.7	23,208.7	2.4%	2.6%	8.6%	43.6%
1996	1,301.9	22,383.3	1,423.0	24,464.8	2.4%	2.4%	8.1%	43.7%
1997	1,389.4	23,825.5	1,559.9	26,749.9	4.9%	1.8%	7.0%	43.2%
1998	1,449.3	24,785.2	1,653.5	28,277.9	3.2%	1.6%	6.3%	40.9%
1999	1,513.7	25,793.8	1,686.2	28,733.2	3.0%	1.3%	6.0%	39.3%
2000	1,604.8	27,253.1	1,665.3	28,279.7	3.7%	0.8%	5.5%	36.6%
2001	1,675.0	28,335.4	1,644.3	27,816.7	2.1%	1.2%	5.1%	33.9%
2002	1,737.2	29,262.8	1,786.9	30,099.6	2.1%	1.3%	5.2%	34.1%
2003	1,825.2	30,604.8	2,059.0	34,525.0	3.0%	1.4%	5.0%	35.3%
2004	1,918.3	31,998.7	2,422.9	40,415.5	2.4%	1.3%	4.8%	38.2%
2005	2,029.8	33,598.5	2,547.7	42,171.2	2.6%	2.1%	4.8%	39.4%
2006	2,146.5	35,288.4	2,720.9	44,731.6	2.6%	2.3%	5.4%	40.4%
2007	2,254.5	36,767.2	3,107.4	50,675.5	2.3%	2.3%	5.4%	41.4%
2008	2,292.3	37,077.1	2,970.0	48,039.0	-0.2%	3.6%	5.7%	49.0%
2009	2,209.0	35,479.0	2,434.5	39,101.2	-4.2%	2.2%	7.6%	62.8%
2010	2,283.2	36,379.2	2,493.6	39,731.6	2.1%	3.3%	7.9%	74.0%
2011	2,364.6	37,363.8	2,675.8	42,281.9	1.5%	4.5%	8.1%	79.5%
2012	2,453.4	38,511.1	2,719.6	42,691.2	1.5%	2.8%	8.0%	82.7%
2013	2,579.2	40,232.7	2,805.1	43,757.4	1.9%	2.6%	7.6%	83.6%
2014	2,686.2	41,584.0	3,088.8	47,816.0	3.0%	1.5%	6.2%	85.5%
2015	2,795.1	42,928.5	2,957.2	45,418.9	2.6%	0.0%	5.4%	86.0%
2016	2,928.3	44,606.1	2,733.0	41,630.5	2.3%	0.7%	4.9%	85.8%
2017	3,074.4	46,553.5	2,701.3	40,903.5	2.1%	2.7%	4.4%	85.1%
2018	3,199.8	48,163.7	2,904.5	43,719.0	1.7%	2.5%	4.1%	84.5%
2019	3,311.5	49,575.6	2,880.4	43,121.1	1.7%	1.8%	3.8%	83.9%
2020	3,040.7	45,329.1	2,758.9	41,127.4	-9.3%	0.9%	4.6%	102.6%
2021	3,402.7	50,522.7	3,187.6	47,328.8	7.4%	2.6%	4.5%	95.3%
2022	3,776.0	55,862.1	3,198.5	47,317.6	3.6%	9.1%	3.8%	87.0%
2023	3,922.9	57,821.9	3,479.5	51,286.1	0.3%	9.0%	4.8%	79.9%
2024	4,027.7	59,160.0	3,757.4	55,189.5	0.6%	3.7%	5.0%	76.7%
2025	4,198.8	61,471.6	3,969.9	58,120.1	2.3%	1.8%	4.3%	73.7%
2026	4,373.1	63,829.0	4,217.7	61,562.0	2.2%	2.0%	4.2%	70.6%
2027	4,524.5	65,857.4	4,449.8	64,768.9	1.5%	2.0%	4.2%	68.0%