Since the 1980s, particularly under the Government of Margaret Thatcher many state enterprises that were nationalised in the 1940s have been privatised.
GDP growth slipped in 2001-02 as the global downturn, the high value of the pound, and the bursting of the "new economy" bubble hurt manufacturing and exports. However the UK economy is one of the strongest in Europe; inflation, interest rates, and unemployment remain low.
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2 Taxation 3 Currency 4 Statistics 5 See Also |
Industries
The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation.
Service industries, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account by far for the largest proportion of GDP and employ around 70% of the working population.
Manufacturing continues to decline in importance.
Tourism
Tourism is the 6th largest industry in the UK, contributing 76 billion pounds to the economy. It employs 1,800,000 full time equivalent people -- 6.1% of the working population (2002 figures) [1].
Agriculture
Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labor force. It contributes around 2% of GDP. Around two thirds of production is devoted to livestock, one third to arable crops.
Taxation
The Labour government has increased funding of education, transport, and the National Health Service, at a cost in higher taxes. The government has been criticised by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats for its stealth tax raises.
Currency
The relatively good economic performance has complicated the Blair government's efforts to make a case for Britain to leave the Pound Sterling and join the Euro. The British Prime Minister has pledged to hold a public referendum if membership meets Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown's "five economic tests". The tests are:
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $1.29 trillion (1999 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
1.9% (1999 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $21,800 (1999 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
Population below poverty line:
17%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.3% (1999)
Labor force:
29.2 million (1999)
Labor force - by occupation:
services 68.9%, manufacturing and construction 17.5%, government 11.3%, energy 1.2%, agriculture 1.1% (1996)
Unemployment rate:
6% (1999)
Budget:
Industries:
production machinery including machine tools, electric power equipment, automation equipment, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, and other consumer goods
Industrial production growth rate:
-0.3% (1999)
Electricity - production:
343.099 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity - production by source:
Electricity - consumption:
331.482 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity - exports:
200 million kWh (1998)
Electricity - imports:
12.6 billion kWh (1998)
Agriculture - products:
cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry; fish
Exports:
$271 billion (f.o.b., 1998)
Exports - commodities:
manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco
Exports - partners:
EU 58% (Germany 12%, France 10%, Netherlands 8%), US 13% (1998)
Imports:
$305.9 billion (f.o.b., 1998)
Imports - commodities:
manufactured goods, machinery, fuels; foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
EU 53% (Germany 13%, France 9%, Netherlands 7%, Italy 5%), US 14% (1998)
Debt - external:
$NA
Economic aid - donor:
ODA, $3.4 billion (1997)
Currency:
1 British pound = 100 pence
Exchange rates:
British pounds per US$1 - 0.6092 (January 2000), 0.6180 (1999), 0.6037 (1998), 0.6106 (1997), 0.6403 (1996), 0.6335 (1995). British banknotes British coinage
Fiscal year:
1 April - 31 MarchStatistics
agriculture:
1.7%
industry:
25.3%
services:
73% (1998)
lowest 10%:
2.4%
highest 10%:
24.7% (1986)
revenues:
$541 billion
expenditures:
$507.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $35.1 billion (FY98/99)
fossil fuel:
68.24%
hydro:
1.49%
nuclear:
28.48%
other:
1.79% (1998)