Brexit: Business Sees No Benefit From Borrowed Time
Britain narrowly avoided a no-deal Brexit and businesses are curbing their enthusiasm.
The United Kingdom GDP and Economic Data
Country Report 2017 - Includes The United Kingdom real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.
Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about the U.K. economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of the country best banks and safest banks are also available.
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International Reserves
USD 124 billion (2016)
International Monetary Fund (IMF), data retrieved January 2017
Gross Domestic Product - GDP
USD 2,609.9 billion (2017, estimate)
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)
Intl$ 2,877.5 billion (2017, estimate)
Real GDP growth
| 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
| 2.5% | 2.6% | -0.6% | -4.3% | 1.9% | 1.5% | 1.3% |
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016* | 2017* | ||
| 1.9% | 3.1% | 2.3% | 1.8% | 1.1% |
*Estimate
GDP per capita - current prices
USD 39,526.2 (2017, estimate)
GDP (PPP) - share of world total
| 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2017* |
| 3.39% | 3.34% | 3.02% | 2.44% | 2.3% |
*Estimate
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GDP - composition by sector
- agriculture: 0.6%
- industry: 19.2%
- services: 80.2%
(2016 estimate)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP)
1.7% (2014)
OECD, data retrieved January 2017
Inflation
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016* | 2017* |
| 2.6% | 1.5% | 0.1% | 0.7% | 2.5% |
*Estimate
Unemployment rate
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016* | 2017* |
| 7.6% | 6.2% | 5.4% | 5.0% | 5.2% |
*Estimate
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016* | 2017* |
| 86% | 87.9% | 89% | 89% | 88.8% |
*Estimate
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP)
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016* | 2017* |
| -5.7% | -5.6% | -4.2% | -3.3% | -2.7% |
*Estimate
Government bond ratings
Standard & Poor's: AA
Moody's: Aa1
Standard & Poor's / Moody's (Updated January 2017)
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Market value of publicly traded shares
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
Largest companies
HSBC Holdings, Prudential, GlaxoSmithKline, National Grid, Lloyds Banking Group, AstraZeneca, British American Tobacco, Aviva, Imperial Tobacco Group, BT Group, SABMiller, Diageo, Legal & General Group, WPP, Reckitt Benckiser Group, BAE Systems, Old Mutual, Standard Life, SSE, BP, Tesco, International Airlines, Vodafone, Aon, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, British Sky Broadcasting, Compass Group, Rio Tinto, Associated British Foods, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Standard Chartered, RELX Group, Liberty Global, Delphi Automotive, J Sainsbury, Centrica, Anglo American, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Kingfisher, CNH Industrial, London Stock Exchange, Land Securities Group, Marks & Spencer, British Land, Johnson Matthey, Investec, Schroders, Next, Wm Morrison Supermarkets, EasyJet, Pentair, St. James's Place, Mondi, Royal Mail, RSA Insurance Group, Willis Towers Watson, Vedanta Resources, ITV, Bunzl, Barratt Developments, Pearson, InterContinental Hotels, Direct Line Insurance, ARM Holdings, Hammerson, United Utilities, GKN, Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, Smith & Nephew, Phoenix Group Holdings, Whitbread, Intu Properties, Dixons Carphone, Babcock International Group, 3i Group, Capita, Burberry Group, Derwent London, Travis Perkins, Virgin Money Holdings, Segro, Admiral Group plc, Great Portland Estates, Ashtead Group, Smiths Group, Thomas Cook Group, Berkeley Group Holdings, Inchcape, ICAP, Shaftesbury.
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Current account balance by percentage of GDP
-4.3% (2017 estimate)
Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services)
27.2% (2015)
Shares in world total merchandising export
2.8% (2015)
Shares in world total commercial services export
7.3% (2015)
Export commodities
Manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco
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Import commodities
Manufactured goods, machinery, fuels; foodstuffs
Exports - major partners
US 14.6%, Germany 10.1%, Switzerland 7%, China 6%, France 5.9%, Netherlands 5.8%, Ireland 5.5% (2015)
Imports - major partners
Germany 14.8%, China 9.8%, US 9.2%, Netherlands 7.5%, France 5.8%, Belgium 5% (2015)
FDI inflows
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| USD 47,592 million | USD 52,449 million | USD 39,533 million |
FDI outflows
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| USD -18,771 million | USD -81,809 million | USD -61,441 million |
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| USD -2118.3 million | USD -63456.8 million | USD -72050.2 million | USD 34955.5 million |
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014
Liberty Global PLC, Ziggo NV, Netherlands, USD 6.8 billion / Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC, Engine Holding GmbH, Germany, USD 3.4 billion
(for a monthly update on M&A; click here )
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015
Aviva PLC, Friends Life Group Ltd, Guernsey, USD 8.7 billion / GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Novartis AG-Vaccines Business, Switzerland, USD 7.1 billion / L1 Energy Ltd, RWE Dea AG, Germany, USD 7.1 billion / Imperial Tobacco Group PLC, Reynolds American Inc-Cigarette Brands Portfolio & Other Assets, United States, USD 7.1 billion / Gaetano Holdings Ltd, Komi Oil OOO, Russian Federation, USD 5.0 billion / British American Tobacco PLC, Reynolds American Inc, United States, USD 4.7 billion / CVC Capital Partners Ltd, Douglas Holding AG, Germany, USD 3.1 billion / Investor Group, E ON Espana SL, Spain, USD 3.1 billion / Cable & Wireless Communications PLC, Columbus International Inc, Bahamas, USD 3.1 billion
(for a monthly update on M&A; click here )
Best countries for doing business
Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.
Overall ranking: 7 out of 190 countries (2017)
Subcategories:
Starting a business: 16 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 31 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 47 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 20 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 6 out of 190 countries
Trading Across Borders: 28 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 10 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 17 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 17 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 13 out of 190 countries
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Global competitiveness ranking
7 out of 138 countries
(2016-2017)
Index of Economic Freedom
Ranking: 10 / Score: 76.41 (Mostly free) (2016)
(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)
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Government type
Parliamentary constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Languages
English
Note: the following are recognized regional languages: Scots (about 30% of the population of Scotland), Scottish Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland), Welsh (about 20% of the population of Wales), Irish (about 10% of the population of Northern Ireland), Cornish (some 2,000 to 3,000 in Cornwall) (2012 est.)
Religions
Christian (includes Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 59.5%, Muslim 4.4%, Hindu 1.3%, other 2%, unspecified 7.2%, none 25.7% (2011 est.)
Total population
| 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2016* | 2021* |
| 57.238 million | 58.886 million | 62.76 million | 65.572 million | 67.781 million |
*Estimate
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Urban population as % of total population
| 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2015 |
| 78% | 79% | 79% | 83% |
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)
32.6 (2012)
(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
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Freedom House rating
Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 1 (2017)
(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
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Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed 52.02% Mobile 124.13% (2015)
(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)
Mercer Cost of living index
London: 17th
Aberdeen:85th
Birmingham: 96th
Glasgow: 119th
Belfast: 134th
(2016)
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