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Economy of the United Kingdom

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The United Kingdom has a highly developed social market economy.[30][31][32] In 2026, the United Kingdom is the fifth-largest national economy in the world measured by nominal gross domestic product (GDP), tenth-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP), and about 21st by nominal GDP per capita,[33] constituting 3.38% of world GDP and 2.13% by purchasing power parity (PPP).[34][34]

Economy of the United Kingdom
Greenwich looking towards Canary Wharf, part of London's central business district, one of the major financial centres of the world.
CurrencyPound sterling (GBP, £)
1 April to 31 March[a]
Trade organisations
WTO, G-20, G7, CPTPP and OECD
Country group
Statistics
PopulationNeutral increase 69,281,437 (2024)[5]
GDP
GDP rank
  • Increase 1.1% (2024)[6]
  • Increase 1.3% (2025f)[6]
  • Increase 0.8% (2026f)[6]
GDP per capita
  • Increase $61,006 (nominal; 2026)[6]
  • Increase $67,559 (PPP; 2026)[6]
GDP per capita rank
1.1% (2025)[7]
GDP by sector
Positive decrease 2.8% (April 2026)[9]
Neutral decrease 3.75% (Dec 2025)[10]
Population below national poverty line
Negative increase 21% (2023)[b][11]
Negative increase 36.5 (2022)[12]
(13th)
Steady 71 out of 100 points (2024)[14] (20th)
Labour force
33,496,000 / 75.1% in employment (Jan–Mar 2026)[c][15]
Labour force by occupation
List
  • 26.9% Professional
  • 14.9% Associate professional
  • 11.4% Managers, directors and senior officials
  • 9.2% Administrative and secretarial
  • 9.0% Elementary occupations
  • 8.7% Caring, leisure and other service
  • 8.3% Skilled trades
  • 5.7% Sales and customer service
  • 5.5% Process plant and machine operatives
  • (Jan–Dec 2025)[d][15]
Negative increase 1,806,000 / 5% (Jan–Mar 2026)[e][16]
Negative increase 16.2% (Jan–Mar 2026)[17]
£766.60 weekly (2025)[f][18]
1.1% (median, 2025)[19]
Main industries
List
External
ExportsIncrease £931.7 billion (2025)[g][21] (4th)
Export goods
List
  • £31.3bn Cars
  • £29.9bn Power generators
  • £25.0bn Medicinal and pharmaceutical products
  • £13.2bn Crude oil
  • £12.8bn Aircraft
  • £12.0bn Beverages and tobacco
  • £11.6bn Scientific instruments
  • £364.3bn Total (2024)[h][21]
Main export partners
  • European Union 41.4%
  • United States 21.8%
  • China 3.4%
  • Switzerland 2.9%
  • India 2.1%
  • Canada 2.1%
  • (2025)[g][21]
ImportsIncrease £971.7 billion (2025)[g][21] (6th)
Import goods
List
  • £38.4bn Cars
  • £27.2bn Medicinal and pharmaceutical products
  • £27.0bn Refined oil
  • £25.1bn Crude oil
  • £23.1bn Power generators
  • £20.0bn Miscellaneous electrical goods
  • £16.1bn Telecoms and sound equipment
  • £14.9bn Vegetables and fruit
  • £14.6bn Clothing
  • £14.5bn Other manufactures (consumer)
  • £568.6bn Total (2024)[h][21]
Main import partners
  • European Union 49.0%
  • United States 13.3%
  • China 7.6%
  • India 3.0%
  • Norway 2.8%
  • Switzerland 2.7%
  • (2025)[g][21]
FDI stock
  • Inward: £2.127 trillion
  • Outward: £1.856 trillion
  • (2024)[21]
£−53.3 billion (2023)[22]
£7.533 trillion (2023)[23] (2nd)
£−658.2 billion (2023)[22]
Public finance
£2.917 trillion / 94.2% of GDP (net) (2025/26)[i][24]
List
  • Gross reserves (Jan 2025):[25]
  • UK Government: $186.4 billion
  • Bank of England: $32.1 billion
  • Net reserves (Jan 2025):[25]
  • UK Government: $94.2 billion
  • Bank of England: $0.021 billion
£−129 billion / 4.2% of GDP (2025/26)[24]
£1.232 trillion (2025/26)[24]
£1.362 trillion (2025/26)[24]
Economic aid$19.1 billion (2023)[j][26]
List

The United Kingdom has one of the most globalised economies[35] and comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.[36] In 2022, the United Kingdom was the fifth-largest exporter[37] of goods and services in the world and the fourth-largest importer.[38] It also had the fourth-largest outward foreign direct investment,[39] and the fifteenth-largest inward foreign direct investment.[40] In 2022, the United Kingdom's trade with the European Union accounted for 42% of the country's exports and 48% of its total imports.[41] The United Kingdom has a highly efficient and strong social security system, which comprises roughly 24.5% of GDP.[4][42][3]

The service sector dominates, contributing 82% of GDP;[43] the financial services industry is particularly important, and London is the second-largest financial centre in the world.[44] Edinburgh was ranked 17th in the world, and 6th in Europe for its financial services industry in 2021.[45] The United Kingdom's technology sector has an enterprise value of US$1.2 trillion, with fintech, health technology, and semiconductors accounting for 48% of the value.[46] The aerospace industry in the United Kingdom is the second-largest national aerospace industry.[47] Its pharmaceutical industry, the tenth-largest in the world,[48] plays an important role in the economy. Of the world's 500 largest companies, 20 are headquartered in the UK, with combined global revenues of US$1.45 trillion.[49] The economy is boosted by North Sea oil and gas production; its proven reserves were estimated at 2.9 billion barrels in 2024,[50] although it has been a net importer of oil since 2005.[51] There are significant regional variations in prosperity, with South East England and North East Scotland being the richest areas per capita. The size of London's economy makes it the biggest city by GDP in Europe.[52] In 2022, the UK spent around 2.8% of GDP on research and development.[53]

In the 18th century, Britain was the first nation to industrialise.[54][55][56] During the 19th century, through its expansive colonial empire and technological superiority, Britain had a preeminent role in the global economy,[57] accounting for 9.1% of the world's GDP in 1870.[58] The Second Industrial Revolution was also taking place rapidly in the United States and the German Empire; this presented an increasing economic challenge for the UK, leading into the 20th century. The cost of fighting both the First and Second World Wars further weakened the UK's relative position. During the Great Recession of 2008, the UK economy suffered a significant decline, followed by a period of weak growth and stagnation.[59][60][61] Slow growth continued following UK's exit from the EU in 2020, which damaged longer-term growth.[62][63]

Government involvement is primarily exercised by His Majesty's Treasury, headed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Department for Business and Trade. Since 1979, management of the economy has followed a broadly laissez-faire approach.[30][31][64][65][66][67] The Bank of England is the UK's central bank, and since 1997 its Monetary Policy Committee has been responsible for setting interest rates, quantitative easing, and forward guidance.

History

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1945 to 1979

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The Second World War net loss to UK national wealth amounted to 18.6% (£4.59 billion) of the nation's pre-war wealth (£24.68 billion) at 1938 prices.[68] After the 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.[69] 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.[70] The annual rate of growth between 1960 and 1973 averaged 2.9% although this figure was far behind France, West Germany and Italy.[71]

Gradual deindustrialisation meant the closure of operations in mining, heavy industry, and manufacturing, resulting in the loss of highly paid working-class jobs.[72] The UK's share of global 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.[73] 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.[74] 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.[75]

During the 1973 oil crisis, which saw oil prices quadruple,[76] the 1973–1974 stock market crash, and the secondary banking crisis of 1973–1975, the British economy fell into the 1973–1975 recession, and the Conservative government was ousted by the Labour Party, which had previously governed from 1964 to 1970. 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.

During the 1976 sterling crisis, the UK was forced to apply for a loan of £2.3 billion (equivalent to £15.5 billion in 2025) from the International Monetary Fund. Denis Healey, the 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.[77] After 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.[76]

Following the Winter of Discontent, when the UK experienced 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. In retrospect, the 1970s are considered to have been a "lost decade" for the British economy.[78][79]

1979 to 1997

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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 mines. 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 following 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

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In May 1997, Labour, led by Tony Blair, won the general election following 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.[93]

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.[94] 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.[95] Total government, business, household and financial sector debt reached 469% of GDP in 2008. For historical comparison, total UK debt was 286% of GDP in 1947, after the Second World War, and 110% in 1980.[96]

This extended period of growth ended in Q2 of 2008 when the United Kingdom entered the Great Recession brought about by the 2008 financial crisis. The UK was particularly vulnerable to the crisis because its financial sector was the most highly leveraged of any major economy.[97] 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.[98][99]

In August 2008 the IMF warned that the country's outlook had worsened due to a twin shock: financial turmoil and rising commodity prices.[100] 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.[101] The UK's output per hour worked was on a par with the average for the "old" EU-15 countries.[102]

2009 to 2020

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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.[103] 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 the Second World War.[86][104] Gordon Brown, the then prime minister, described the recession as "a one-off cost for globalisation".[105] 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.[k][106] 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.[107] 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 ten years following the Great Recession were characterised by extremes. In 2015, employment was at its highest since records began,[108] and GDP growth had become the fastest in the Group of Seven (G7) and Europe,[109] but workforce productivity was the worst since the 1820s, with any growth attributed to a fall in working hours.[110] Output per hour worked was 18% below the average for the rest of the G7.[111] Real wage growth was the worst since the 1860s, and the Governor of the Bank of England described it as a lost decade.[112] 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%.[113] For 2015 as a whole,[114] the current account deficit rose to a record high of 5.2% of GDP (£96.2bn),[115] the highest in the developed world.[116] In Q4 2015, it exceeded 7%, a level not witnessed during peacetime since records began in 1772.[117] The UK relied on foreign investors to plug the shortfall in its balance of payments.[118] 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.[119]

The Great Recession had a long term effect on UK's growth; GDP growth slowed from an annual average of 3.0% between 1993 and 2007 to 1.5% between 2009 and 2023, while labour productivity growth slowed from an annual average of 1.9% between 1993 and 2008 to 0.4% between 2008 and 2023.[120] Additionally, growth in GDP per capita, household income and average earnings sine 2008 has been significantly below the pre-Great Recession trend.[121] The Washington Post wrote in 2026 that the UK had "never fully recovered from the 2008 financial crash".[122]

A rise in unsecured household debt added to questions over the sustainability of the economic recovery in 2016.[123][124][125] The BoE insisted there was no cause for alarm,[126] despite having said two years earlier that the recovery was "neither balanced nor sustainable".[127][l] 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.[130] By Q4 2018 net borrowing in the UK was the highest in the OECD at 5% of GDP.[m] 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.[131]

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 a new historic low of 0.1%.[132] Economic growth had been weak before the crisis, with zero growth in Q4 2019.[133] By May 2020, 23% of the British workforce was furloughed (temporarily laid off). Government schemes were launched to help affected workers.[134] In the first half of 2020, GDP shrank by 22.6%,[135] the deepest recession in UK history and worse than any other G7 or European country.[136] 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.[137] Overall, GDP shrank by 10.3% in 2020, making it the worst contraction since the Great Frost paralysed the economy in 1709.[138]

In 2021 consumer price inflation (CPI) began rising sharply due to higher energy and transport costs.[139] With annual inflation approaching 11%,[140] the BoE gradually increased the base rate, which would peak at 5.25% in August 2023.[141] The UK was not alone: global inflation rates were the highest in 40 years owing to the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.[142] The UK had the highest domestic electricity prices and amongst the highest gas prices in Europe, contributing to a cost of living crisis.[143] 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,[144] signalling the end to an era of easy borrowing.[145][146] In October 2022 year-on-year CPI peaked at 11.1%, the worst for 41 years.[147]

In August 2023, the ONS announced that nominal GDP had surpassed its pre-COVID-19 size in the final quarter of 2021.[148] GDP per capita rose by 0.7% a year on average from 2007 to 2024, in contrast with 2.5% a year during the global credit bubble from 1990 to 2007.[149] In early 2024, average wages in the UK reached roughly the same level in real terms as they had been in 2008.[59] As of March 2026, the overall UK unemployment rate was 5%,[150] up from 3.8% in February 2024,[151] and youth unemployment reached 16.2%, the highest since 2014.[17] The ONS estimated that 205,880 payrolled jobs had been lost from July 2024 to May 2026. Retail, hospitality, manufacturing, IT, and construction were the sectors hardest hit, while the number of payrolled employees rose slightly in transportation and storage, public administration and defence, finance and insurance, and health and social work.[152]

Economic charts

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Government spending and economic management

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The Bank of England, London, is the central bank of the United Kingdom.

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.[153] 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.[154] In July 2007, the UK had government debt at 35.5% of GDP.[155] As a result of the 2008 financial crisis and the Great 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.[154][155] 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 £1.305 trillion, equivalent to 77.3% of GDP.[156] For the financial year of 2013–2014 public sector net borrowing was £93.7 billion.[156] 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.

Public administration, defence and social security

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This refers to core government activities essential for the functioning and defence of a state, as well as the funding and administration of government-provided social security programmes.[157] The sector added gross value of £131.5 billion to the UK economy in 2024.[158]

Sectors

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The UK's Office for National Statistics' Blue Book divides the UK economy into 10 broad categories, to list their contribution to the UK economy in terms of Gross value added and employment income (as measured by employee compensation). These are

Contributions to the UK economy by sector in 2023
SectorGVA (£bn)[159]% of GVA[159]Employee compensation (£bn)[160]% of employee compensation[160]
Agriculture17.8390.75.000.4
Production337.88913.5158.0011.9
Construction148.4575.961.004.6
Distribution401.72816.1266.0020.0
Information152.2976.1101.007.6
Financial204.0468.299.007.4
Real Estate346.84913.920.001.5
Professional340.42413.6215.0016.2
Government473.21618.9366.0027.6
Other Services74.6453.040.003.0
Total2,497.39–1,331.00–

Agriculture, forestry and fishing

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Wheat harvesting in Devon, England

Agriculture in the UK is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards. The country produces 62% of its food needs.[161] The self-sufficiency level was just under 50% in the 1950s, peaking at 80% in the 1980s, before gradually declining to its present level.[162]

Agriculture, forestry and fishing added gross value of £18.53bn to the UK economy in 2024. It contributes 0.6% of the UK's national GDP.[158] Around 355,000 people were employed in the sector as of March 2026.[163] Approximately two-thirds of agriculture production by value is devoted to livestock, and one-third to arable crops.

The main contributions to livestock output were milk (£6.3bn), beef (£4.15bn), poultry (£3.35bn), pigmeat (£1.84bn), mutton and lamb (£1.76bn) and eggs (£1.35bn).[164]

The main contributions to crop output were wheat (£2.16bn), fresh vegetables (£2.03bn), plants and flowers (£1.7bn), potatoes (£1.46bn), barley (£1.16bn) and fruit (£1.08bn).[164]

UK agriculture has become more efficient over the past half a century, with total factor productivity increasing by 51% from 1973 to 2024, driven by a 32% increase in the output of livestock and crops, and a 13% decrease in the volume of inputs such as seeds and fertilisers.[165]

Fishing boats in Fife, Scotland

In 2024 there were 5,232 UK registered fishing vessels, a decrease of 52% since 1994. The vessels landed 745,000 tonnes of sea fish with a value of £1.16 billion. Of the four UK nations, Scotland lands the largest quantity and value of fish, approximately 2.5 times more than England.[166] The UK tonnage of fish landed rose significantly from 553,000 tonnes in 1887 to a peak of 1.2 million in 1913 and began to decline steadily from the mid-1970s.[167]

In 2022 the UK aquaculture industry farmed 217,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish, worth £1.08bn. Atlantic salmon, farmed in Scotland, accounted for £1.0bn of the value, while rainbow trout, mussels, oysters and carp made up the rest.[168] Around 3,000 people work in the industry, a similar number to the mid-nineties,[169] when production was 93,838 tonnes.[170]

Construction

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A new housing development in Nottinghamshire

The construction industry contributed gross value of £154.3 billion to the UK economy in 2024. It contributes around 6% to UK GDP,[158] with 2.32 million workers in 2026,[163] of whom around 36% are self-employed.[171] There is a persistent labour shortage in the industry.[171]

Residential development and infrastructure are the two largest components. Housing represents 33% to 40% of new construction output. Infrastructure works, such as transport and utility projects, have grown to account for approximately 25% of new activity in recent years. Construction of offices, retail, and leisure facilities has declined owing to the increasing adoption of remote working and the growth of e-commerce. The remaining share is made up of industrial projects, such as factories and warehouses, and of public buildings, including schools and hospitals.[171]

One of the single largest projects in the UK in recent years was Crossrail, costing an estimated £19 billion. It was the largest construction project in Europe at the time. Opened in 2022,[172] the new railway line runs east to west through London and into the surrounding area, with a branch to Heathrow Airport.[173] The main feature of the project is construction of 42 kilometres (26 mi) of new tunnels connecting stations in central London.[174]

Colne Valley Viaduct, part of the High Speed 2 railway line, under construction in 2024

High Speed 2 (HS2), a new railway line between London and the West Midlands, is one of Europe's largest ongoing infrastructure projects.[175] It is due to be fully completed in the early 2040s and cost between £87.7bn and £102.7bn. HS2 trains will operate at a maximum speed of 320 kilometres per hour (200 mph) – the same as Japan's Shinkansen bullet trains.[176]

Other high-profile projects under way or planned include the privately funded £2.2bn north runway at Gatwick Airport,[177] G Park 1 and 2 data centres in London Docklands, Outer Dowsing 1.5GW offshore wind farm near Lincolnshire, the Monklands Hospital replacement in North Lanarkshire, and Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital.[178]

Production industries

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Utilities – electricity, gas and water

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Electricity generation in the United Kingdom by source: percentage share, 2000–2025

This sector includes the supply of electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning; and water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities. It added gross value of £83.24 billion to the economy in 2024,[158] with 391,000 workers employed as of March 2026.[163]

Owing to improved efficiency in domestic appliances, electricity consumption per household dropped by 26% between 2007 and 2023, from 4,662 kilowatt-hours (kWh) to 3,449kWh.[179] UK natural gas consumption peaked in 2000 at 106.6 billion cubic metres (bcm) and has declined by 40% to 64.4 bcm in 2025.[180] The reduction in energy usage over the past quarter of a century corresponds with a real-terms fall in the gross value that utilities add to the economy.[158]

Public water supply and sanitation is characterised by universal access and generally good service quality. Unlike many other developed countries, the UK features diverse institutional arrangements across its constituent parts: (England and Wales; Scotland; and Northern Ireland). In England and Wales, water services are mainly provided by private companies, while in Scotland and Northern Ireland, these services are managed by publicly owned entities.

Manufacturing

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A Land Rover Discovery being made at Jaguar Land Rover's Solihull plant

From 1841 to 1961 around 36.5% of the labour force were employed in manufacturing. By 1981 this had fallen to 23.1%. Over the next three decades manufacturing as a share of employment gradually fell to 8.9%.[181] In March 2026 the sector employed 2.48 million workers.[163]

Manufacturing added gross value of £231.88 billion to national GDP in 2024. The major industries are food, beverages and tobacco (£40.5bn), transport (£30.8bn), metals (£26.1bn), pharmaceuticals (£24.9bn), electronics (£16.5bn), and machinery (£15.1bn).[158]

UK manufacturing no longer relies on high volume, low cost mass production. It has become highly specialised and efficient, focusing on high value, research and development intensive products. Between 1997 and 2024, output per hour increased by 202% in the advanced manufacturing sector, compared to 154% for the whole of manufacturing and 33% for the UK economy.[182]

In 2008, around 180,000 people in the UK were directly employed in the UK automotive manufacturing sector.[183] In that year the sector had a turnover of £52.5 billion, generated £26.6 billion of exports[184] and produced around 1.45 million passenger vehicles and 203,000 commercial vehicles.[183] The UK is a major centre for engine manufacturing, and in 2008 around 3.16 million engines were produced in the country.[183]

A Rolls-Royce Trent jet engine undergoing tests at Rolls-Royce's aerospace factory in Derby

The aerospace industry of the UK is the second-largest aerospace industry in the world (after the United States) and the largest in Europe.[185][186] The industry employs around 113,000 people directly and around 276,000 indirectly and has an annual turnover of around £20 billion.[187][188] British companies with a major presence in the industry include BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce (the world's second-largest aircraft engine maker).[189][190] 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.[191]

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.[192][193] In 2007 exports of pharmaceutical products from the UK totalled £14.6 billion, creating a trade surplus in pharmaceutical products of £4.3 billion.[194] The UK is home to GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, respectively the world's third- and seventh-largest pharmaceutical companies.[195][196]

Mining, quarrying and hydrocarbons

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Beryl Alpha is a crude oil platform in the UK sector of the North Sea, 335km northeast of Aberdeen.

This sector includes the extraction of oil and gas.[197] In 2024 it contributed £27.8 billion to GDP, which is a real-terms decline of 84% from the 1997 peak of £173.5 billion (adjusted for inflation).[158] In March 2026, 55,000 people were directly employed by the sector.[163]

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%).[198] In 2009, the UK produced 1.5 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil and consumed 1.7 million bbl/d.[199] Production is now in decline and the UK has been a net importer of oil since 2005.[199] As of 2010 the UK has around 3.1 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, the largest of any EU member state.[199]

In 2009, the UK was the 13th largest producer of natural gas in the world and the largest producer in the EU.[200] Production is now in decline and the UK has been a net importer of natural gas since 2004.[200] In 2009 the UK produced 19.7 million tons of coal and consumed 60.2 million tons.[198] In 2005 it had proven recoverable coal reserves of 171 million tons.[198] 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).[201] Based on current UK coal consumption, these volumes represent reserves that could last the UK between 200 and 400 years.[202]

The UK is home to a number of large energy companies, including two of the six oil and gas "supermajors" – BP and Shell plc.[203][204] The UK is also rich in a number of natural resources, including coal, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead and silica.

In 2024 the UK's proven oil and gas reserves were equivalent to 2.9 billion barrels,[50] although it became a net importer of oil in 2005,[51] and a net importer of petroleum products in 2013. By 2024, domestic production of petroleum products had fallen to nearly half the 1998 peak.[205] While Norway continues to license and develop new projects in the North Sea, maintaining oil and gas extraction close to historic highs,[206] the UK Government has chosen not to do so in order to help meet its self-imposed net-zero emissions targets.[207]

Service industries

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The service sector is the dominant sector of the UK economy, and it accounted for 82% of GDP in 2023.[43]

Creative industries

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Shepperton Studios in Surrey is the second-largest film studio in the world, covering 1,500,000 square feet (140,000 m2).[208]

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.[209] Key areas include London and the North West of England, which are the two largest creative industry clusters in Europe.[210] 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.[211] The UK is home to the world's largest advertising company, WPP.[212]

Education, health and social work

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The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham is a university hospital affiliated with the University of Birmingham. It has the largest single-floor critical care unit in the world.

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.[213]

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.[214][215][216] 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.[217]

In 2007/08 higher education institutions in the UK had a total income of £23 billion and employed a total of 169,995 staff.[218] 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).[218]

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The UK financial services industry added gross value of £116.4 billion to the UK economy in 2011.[213] The UK's exports of financial and business services make a significant positive contribution towards the country's balance of payments.

Morning open of the London Stock Exchange on 10 March 2014

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).[219]

There are over 500 banks with offices in London, and it is the leading international centre for banking, insurance, Eurobonds, transactions in foreign currencies 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.[220][221] 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.[222]

Several other major UK cities have large financial sectors and related services. Edinburgh has one of the largest financial centres in Europe[223] 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,[224][225][226] and the largest centre for legal services in the UK after London.[227][228][229]

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.[230][231][232][233] 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 per cent probably originating from Russia, which implies misreporting by financial institutions, sophisticated tax avoidance, and the UK's "safe-haven" reputation.[234]

Hospitality

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The Blue Book 2013 reports that this industry added gross value of £36.6 billion to the UK economy in 2011.[213] 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.

Informal

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A study in 2014 found that sex work and associated services added over £5 billion to the economy each year.[235]

Real estate and renting activities

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The Trafford Centre shopping complex in Manchester was sold for £1.6 billion in 2011 in the largest property sale in British history.[236]

Notable real estate companies in the United Kingdom include British Land, Landsec 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.[237] 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.[238]

Tourism

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The London Eye (left) and Palace of Westminster (right)

The UK received an estimated 39.5 million inbound visitors in 2024, who spent £31.2 billion in total, supporting 3.1 million jobs and generating £13 billion in tax receipts. In 2024, 54% of inbound visitors went to London during their stay, while 40% went to England outside London, 11% to Scotland and 2% to Wales. The UK's capital city accounted for 55% of inbound tourism spending. Domestic tourism spending within the UK amounted to £75.5 billion. As an economic sector, tourism overall is worth around £127 billion per year.[239]

Edinburgh Castle (lit pink) is the third-most visited tourist attraction with an entry fee in the UK.[240]

The UK's 10 most significant inbound tourism markets in 2023:[241][242]

Rank Market Spend Visitors
1 United States £6.3 billion 5,122,000
2 Germany £1.8 billion 2,957,000
3 France £1.6 billion 3,172,000
4 Australia £1.6 billion 1,169,000
5 Ireland £1.2 billion 2,889,000
6 Spain £1.1 billion 2,210,000
7 Netherlands £1.1 billion 1,960,000
8 Italy £973 million 1,696,000
9 Canada £970 million 1,003,000
10 United Arab Emirates £914 million 477,000

Transport, storage and telecommunications

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The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a 393-mile long (632 km) high-speed line between its southern terminus at London King's Cross station and Edinburgh Waverley via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle.

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.[213]

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.[243] 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.[244] There are a further 206.5 miles (332.3 km) of track in Northern Ireland, owned and operated by Northern Ireland Railways.[245]

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.[246] Crossrail (later branded the Elizabeth line), which was completed and officially opened in 2022, is Europe's largest infrastructure project with a £15 billion projected cost.[247]

National Highways is the government-owned company responsible for trunk roads and motorways in England apart from the privately owned and operated M6 Toll.[248][249]

In the year from February 2017 to January 2018, UK airports handled a total of 284.8 million passengers.[250] 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).[250] Heathrow, located 14+1⁄2 miles (23.3 km) west of the capital,[251] has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the world.[252] It is the hub for the UK flag carrier British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.[253] London's six commercial airports form the world's largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic with 171 million passengers in 2017.[254]

This section is an excerpt from Telecommunications in the United Kingdom.[edit]

Telecommunications in the United Kingdom have evolved from the early days of the telegraph to modern fibre broadband and high-speed 5G networks.[255]

Wholesale and retail trade

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Top 10 UK-based retailers by turnover in 2024/25

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.[213]

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.[256] 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.[257]

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%.[258][259]

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. 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. Whilst the big international names dominate, most towns and cities have streets or areas with independent businesses.[260] The UK-based Tesco is the fourth-largest retailer in Europe measured by turnover (after Swartz, Aldi, and Carrefour in 2019).[261]

Research and development

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This section is an excerpt from Science and technology in the United Kingdom.[edit]
A Watt steam engine, which powered the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom and played a key role in it becoming the world's first industrialised nation[n]

Science and technology in the United Kingdom has a long history, producing many important figures and developments in the field. Major theorists from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland include Isaac Newton whose laws of motion and theory of gravitation have been recognized as foundational to modern science and Charles Darwin whose theory of evolution by natural selection was fundamental to the development of modern biology. Major scientific discoveries include hydrogen by Henry Cavendish, penicillin by Alexander Fleming, and the structure of DNA, by Francis Crick and others. Major engineering projects and applications pursued by people from the United Kingdom include the steam locomotive developed by Richard Trevithick and Andrew Vivian, the jet engine by Frank Whittle and the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee. The United Kingdom continues to play a major role in the development of science and technology and major technological sectors include the aerospace, motor and pharmaceutical industries.

Currency

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The Bank of Scotland was the first bank in Europe to successfully print its own banknotes

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 US dollars, is reached when New York enters the trade.

Sterling is the currency of the UK, with its main unit, the pound, 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. 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.[262]

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 had been 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.[263] 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.[264] In 2005, more than half (55%) of the UK were against adopting the currency, while 30% were in favour.[265] 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

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Average for each year, in US dollars and euros per pound; and inversely: £ per US$ and €. (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 £" ratios, although it is conventional to show the forex rates as dollars per £ and £ per euro.

Economic variation within the United Kingdom

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Gross domestic product (2022)

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Within the United Kingdom, England has the largest constituent economy measured by gross domestic product (GDP) according to the figures provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for the year 2022, whilst Northern Ireland has the smallest, which is also in line with their respective population sizes. England also has the highest level of GDP per capita within the UK, whilst Wales has the lowest.[269][270]

RankNationPopulationGDP (in millions of GBP)GDP (in millions of USD)Share of the UK totalGDP per capita (GBP)GDP per capita (USD)
1 England 57 106 398 2 161 593 2 664 325 86.25% 37 852 46 655
2 Scotland 5 447 698 186 851 230 445 7.46% 34 299 42 301
3 Wales 3 131 640 85 412 105 337 3.41% 27 274 33 636
4 Northern Ireland 1 910 543 56 694 69 813 2.26% 29 674 36 541
United Kingdom (total) 67 596 279 2 506 170 3 089 072 100% 37 076 45 758

By English region

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England constitutes the vast majority of the total UK population (84.3%) and an even larger proportion of the GDP (86.25%). Therefore a large part of the regional variation in the UK economy occurs within England itself. London, which is the capital of both the UK and England, has the largest regional economy in England as well as the highest GDP per capita, whilst North East England has both the smallest economy out of the regions as measured by total nominal GDP, as well as the lowest GDP per capita in England.

Below is a list of the Regions of England by GDP and GDP per capita, also provided by the ONS for the year 2022.[269]

RankRegionPopulationGDP (in millions of GBP)GDP (in millions of USD)Share of the UK totalGDP per capita (GBP)GDP per capita (USD)
1 London 8 866 180 562 179 693 096 22.43% 63 407 78 154
2 South East England 9 379 833 374 453 461 665 14.94% 39 921 49 208
3 North West England 7 516 113 247 199 304 755 9.86% 32 889 40 538
4 East of England 6 398 497 213 828 263 556 8.53% 33 419 41 191
5 South West England 5 764 881 194 030 239 186 7.74% 33 657 41 485
6 West Midlands 6 021 653 181 354 223 599 7.23% 30 117 37 118
7 Yorkshire and the Humber 5 541 262 170 304 209 933 6.79% 30 734 37 888
8 East Midlands 4 934 939 146 482 180 663 5.84% 29 683 36 610
9 North East England 2 683 040 71 763 88 526 2.86% 26 747 33 000
England 57 106 398 2 161 593 2 664 325 86.25% 37 852 46 655
United Kingdom (total) 67 596 279 2 506 170 3 089 072 100% 37 076 45 758

Gross value added (2020)

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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 countries.

Rank Country GVA per head, 2020[271]
1 England £32,866 ($42136)
2 Scotland £29,629 ($37986)
3 Northern Ireland £25,575 ($32788)
4 Wales £23,882 ($30618)

By English region

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

Rank Region GVA per head, 2020[271]
1 London £55,974 ($71762)
2 South East England £34,516 ($44251)
3 East of England £29,176 ($37405)
4 North West England £28,257 ($36227)
5 South West England £28,012 ($35913)
6 West Midlands £26,281 ($33694)
7 East Midlands £25,956 ($33277)
8 Yorkshire and the Humber £25,696 ($32944)
9 North East England £23,109 ($29627)

Trade

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Value in US$ of UK goods exports at constant prices from 1995 to 2024. Note: precious metals such as gold are included in the stone category.
A tree map of the UK's main export partners for goods in 2024
A tree map of the UK's main import partners for goods in 2024

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.[272]

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.

Following 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).[273]
  • 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).[274]

UK economy received £1 billion to boost through innovative trade digitalisation act in July 2023.[275]

Trade deals in force

Trade deals being negotiated

Investment

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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.[276]

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.[277] In April 2021, Lord Grimstone established the UK Investment Council to enhance UK inward investment and inform the trade policy of the UK by providing a forum for global investors to offer high-level advice to the government.[278][279]

According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK is the biggest investor in the United States.[280]

The UK attracts foreign direct investment (FDI) from a number of countries[281], including some of the world's leading startup ecosystems, such as Silicon Valley and New York (United States), Beijing (China), Toronto (Canada) and Tel Aviv (Israel).[282][283][284] In 2024–2025, inward investment resulted in 14,213 jobs created in the UK from the United States, 1,661 from China, 1,701 from Canada and 871 from Israel.[281][285]

Mergers and acquisitions

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Since 1985, more than 103,430 deals with UK participation have been announced. There have been four major waves of increased M&A activity: 1999–2000, 2007, 2018–2021, and 2026. The year with the highest cumulated value of deals (£505.39bn) was 2021.[286]

The first half of 2026 saw mergers and acquisitions involving British companies amount to £218 billion—much higher than average, and the largest wave since 2007. Deals included Shell's $16.4bn acquisition of the Canadian oil and gas producer ARC Resources, GSK's $10.6bn acquisition of the US cancer biotech firm Nuvalent, and the US food-maker Ingredion's $2.7bn takeover of Tate & Lyle.[287]

Here is a list of the top 10 deals including UK companies.[286] The Vodafone–Mannesmann deal is still the biggest deal in global history.[citation needed]

Rank Year Acquirer Acquirer nation Target Target nation Value
(£ billions)
1 1999 Vodafone AirTouch PLC United Kingdom Mannesmann AG Germany 127
2 2015 Anheuser-Busch Inbev SA/NV Belgium SABMiller PLC United Kingdom 71.2
3 2015 Royal Dutch Shell PLC Netherlands BG Group PLC United Kingdom 46.7
4 2000 Glaxo Wellcome PLC United Kingdom SmithKline Beecham PLC United Kingdom 46.5
5 2004 Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. Netherlands Shell Transport & Trading Co. United Kingdom 40.8
6 2016 British American Tobacco PLC United Kingdom Reynolds American Inc. United States 40.1
7 1999 Vodafone Group PLC United Kingdom AirTouch Communications Inc. United States 36.3
8 2000 France Telecom SA France Orange PLC United Kingdom 31.1
9 1998 British Petroleum Co PLC United Kingdom Amoco Corp. United States 29.51
10 2016 GE Oil & Gas United Kingdom Baker Hughes Inc. United States 26.63

European Union membership

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The proportion of the country's exports going to the EU has fallen from 54 per cent to 47 per cent 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).[288][289]

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,[290] and then extended again until Friday 31 January 2020 with the ability to exit earlier.[291] 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.[292]

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.[293]

Income, welfare and poverty

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The United Kingdom is a developed country with social welfare infrastructure. In the year to March 2024:[294]

  • Median equivalised household income in the UK before taxes and benefits was £38,900, increasing to £41,900 after taxes and benefits.
  • The richest fifth of people's mean equivalised household income before taxes and benefits (£116,600) was 12.2 times larger than the poorest fifth (£9,600), falling to 3.3 times (£85,100 and £25,700, respectively) after all taxes and benefits.
  • Original income inequality (before taxes and benefits) was 47.6% as measured by the Gini coefficient, and reduced to 26.8% for final income inequality (after taxes and benefits), highlighting the redistributive effect of taxes and benefits.
  • The proportion of people living in households receiving more in benefits (cash benefits and benefits in kind), than they paid in taxes (direct and indirect) was 53.3%; this remained relatively stable over the previous three years.

The poverty line in the UK is commonly defined as being 60% of the median disposable household income. In the year to March 2025, 10.9 million or around 16% of people in the UK were in relative poverty before housing costs, rising to 13.4 million or 20% when accounting for housing costs. This included 3.0 million children (21%) before housing costs and 4.0 million (27%) after housing costs.[295]

Economic impacts of climate change

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This section is an excerpt from Climate change in the United Kingdom § Economic effects.[edit]

According to the Government, the number of households in flood risk will be up to 970,000 homes in the 2020s, up from around 370,000 in January 2012.[296] The effects of flooding and managing flood risk cost the country about £2.2bn a year, compared with the less than £1bn spent on flood protection and management.[297] UK agriculture is also being affected by drought and weather changes.[298]

In 2020 PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated that Storm Dennis damage to homes, businesses and cars could be between £175m and £225m and Storm Ciara cost up to £200m.[299][300] Friends of the Earth criticised British government of the intended cuts to flood defence spending. The protection against increasing flood risk as a result of climate change requires rising investment. In 2009, the Environment Agency calculated that the UK needs to be spending £20m more compared to 2010 to 2011 as the baseline, each and every year out to 2035, just to keep pace with climate change.[301]

The British government and the economist Nicholas Stern published the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change in 2006. The report states that climate change is the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen, presenting a unique challenge for economics. The Review provides prescriptions including environmental taxes to minimise economic and social disruptions. The Stern Review's main conclusion is that the benefits of strong, early action on climate change far outweigh the costs of not acting.[302] The Review points to the potential effects of climate change on water resources, food production, health, and the environment. According to the Review, without action, the overall costs of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5% of global gross domestic product (GDP) each year, now and forever. Including a wider range of risks and costs could increase this to 20% of GDP or more. The review leads to a simple conclusion: the benefits of strong, early action considerably outweigh the costs.[303]

Climate change made the unusual rainfall in autumn and winter 2023–2024, 10 times more probable and 20% stronger. The rainfall led to "severe damage to homes and infrastructure, power blackouts, travel cancellations, and heavy losses of crops and livestock". The damage to arable crops alone is £1.2 billion, without counting vegetables. Claims for house insurance from weather related disasters increased by more than a third.[304] Policies to address climate change can also reduce poverty according to some experts.[305][306]

Data

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The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2025.[307] Inflation below 5% is in green.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ 6 – 5 April for personal tax
  2. ↑ Relative low income after housing costs
  3. ↑ In employment and aged 16 or over (quantity) or aged 16–64 (per cent)
  4. ↑ Per cent is a proportion of all persons in employment aged 16 and over
  5. ↑ Unemployed aged 16 and over. Per cent is a proportion of economically active.
  6. ↑ Median gross weekly pay for full time employees resident in the UK
  7. 1 2 3 4 Goods and services
  8. 1 2 Excluding services
  9. ↑ Public sector net debt excluding public sector banks
  10. ↑ Official development assistance, donor
  11. ↑ Compared to 279% in Japan, 253% in France, 209% in the United States, 206% in Canada, and 198% in Germany.
  12. ↑ It was still very unbalanced,[128] with consumption accounting for 100% of growth in that year.[129]
  13. ↑ For comparison, Germany saved 9% of GDP and Russia saved 5%, while Japan, Greece, Spain, Italy and China saved between 1% and 3%.
  14. ↑ Watt steam engine image: located in the lobby of into the Superior Technical School of Industrial Engineers of the UPM (Madrid)

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