The UK’s Google Tax: Much Ado About Nothing?
George Osborne, Chancellor of the exchequer in the United Kingdom unveils the outline of a “Google tax”.
The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom Country Report: GDP data and GDP forecasts; economic, financial and trade information; the best banks in The United Kingdom; country and population overview
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International Reserves
US$ 142.094 billion (Source: IMF; Data updated: 2014)
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Gross Domestic Product - GDP
US$ 2.828 trillion (2014 estimate)
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)
2.497 trillion of International dollars (2014 estimate)
Real GDP growth
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| 2.8% | 3% | 3.2% | 2.8% | 3.4% | -0.8% | -5.2% | 1.7% |
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014* | ||||
| 1.1% | 0.3% | 1.8% | 2.9% |
*Estimate
GDP per capita - current prices
US$ 48,830 (2014 estimate)
GDP per capita - PPP
$38,711 International Dollars (2014 estimate)
GDP (PPP) - share of world total
| 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2014* |
| 3.91% | 3.84% | 3.53% | 2.93% | 2.74% |
*Estimate
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GDP - composition by sector
- agriculture: 0.7%
- industry: 20.5%
- services: 78.9% (2013 estimate)
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Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP)
1.8% (2011)
Inflation
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014* |
| 4.5% | 2.8% | 2.6% | 1.9% |
*Estimate
Unemployment rate
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014* |
| 8.1% | 8.0% | 7.6% | 6.9% |
*Estimate
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014* |
| 78.5% | 84.3% | 88.6% | 90.1% | 91.5% |
*Estimate
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP)
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014* |
| -10.0% | -7.8% | -8.0% | -5.8% | -5.3% |
*Estimate
Government bond ratings
Standard & Poor's: AAA
Moody's rating: Aa1
Moody's outlook: STA
(Foreign Currency Government Bond Ratings; Data last updated Sept 2014)
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Market value of publicly traded shares
| 2010* | 2011 | 2012** |
| US$3.107 trillion | US$2.903 trillion | US$3.019 trillion |
*2010 Estimate **2012 Estimate
Largest companies in The United Kingdom
HSBC Holdings, BP, Vodafone, Prudential, Rio Tinto, GlaxoSmithKline, Standard Chartered, Aviva, Barclays, National Grid, British American Tobacco, AstraZeneca, Legal & General Group, BG Group, SABMiller, BT Group, Diageo, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Imperial Tobacco Group, Centrica, Old Mutual, Reckitt Benckiser Group, SSE, Standard Life, WPP, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, Aon, Associated British Foods, Tesco, Anglo American, Compass Group, J Sainsbury, Kingfisher, Delphi Automotive, Liberty Global, British Sky Broadcasting, BAE Systems, Marks & Spencer, Resolution, International Airlines, Ensco, Pearson, Reed Elsevier, Land Securities Group, Phoenix Group Holdings, GKN, Investec, RSA Insurance Group, Johnson Matthey, Antofagasta, Schroders, Wm Morrison Supermarkets, Next, United Utilities, London Stock Exchange, Vedanta Resources, EasyJet, Direct Line Insurance, Mondi, Petrofac, Severn Trent, Evraz Group, British Land, Smith & Nephew, Bunzl, Travis Perkins, ITV, Whitbread, Willis Group Holdings, Intu Properties plc, Smiths Group, Songbird Estates plc, Capita, Hammerson plc, Weir Group, Aberdeen Asset Management, Subsea 7, Burberry Group, G4S, Thomas Cook Group, ARM Holdings, Polyus Gold International, Balfour Beatty, Tullow Oil, Inchcape, ICAP, Babcock International Group, Dixons Retail, InterContinental Hotels, Admiral Group plc
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Current account balance
US$ -77.137 billion (2014 estimate)
Current account balance by percentage of GDP
-2.728% of GDP (2014 estimate)
Exports as percent of GDP(Exports of goods and services)
31.4% (2013)
Shares in world total commercial services export
6.58% (2012)
Export commodities
manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco
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Exports - major partners
Germany 11.3%, US 10.5%, Netherlands 8.8%, France 7.4%, Ireland 6.2%, Belgium 5.1% (2012)
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Imports - major partners
Germany 12.6%, China 8%, Netherlands 7.5%, US 6.7%, France 5.4%, Belgium 4.4%, Norway 4% (2012)
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FDI inflows
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
| US$51,137 million | US$45,796 million | US$37,101 million |
FDI outflows
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
| US$106,673 million | US$34,955 million | US$19,440 million |
Value of cross-border M&A;, by country of purchaser
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
| US$-3,521 million | US$69,704 million | US$-1,926 million | US$-23,671 million |
Cross-border M&A; deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2012 (Acquiring company, Acquired company, Country of the acquired company, Value of the deal)
Anglo American PLC, DB Investments SA, Luxembourg, 5.2; Terra Firma Capital Partners, Nomura Holdings Inc, Japan, 5.1; Hamilton Sundstrand Corp SPV, United Technologies Corp, United States, 3.5; Old Mutual PLC, Old Mutual PLC, United Kingdom, 3.2
(for a monthly update on M&A; click here )
Cross-border M&A; deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2013 (Acquiring company, Acquired company, Country of the acquired company, Value of the deal)
N/A
(for a monthly update on M&A; click here )
Best countries for doing business World Bank/IFC Doing Business Project
Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business, from 1 - 189. A high ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.
Overall ranking: 10 out of 189 countries (2013)
Subcategories:
Starting a business: 28 out of 189 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 56 out of 189 countries
Registering Property: 68 out of 189 countries
Getting credit: 1 out of 189 countries
Protecting investors: 10 out of 189 countries
Trading across border: 16 out of 189 countries
Paying Taxes: 14 out of 189 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 27 out of 189 countries
Getting Electricity: 74 out of 189 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 7 out of 189 countries
(2013)
Global competitiveness ranking(ranking by country on a basis of 144, the first is the best)
9
(2014-2015)
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Index of Economic FreedomWSJ and Heritage Foundation
Ranking: 14 Score: 74.9 (Mostly Free) (2014)
(100=totally free 0=totally repressed )
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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)
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Religions
Christian (includes Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 59.5%, Muslim 4.4%, Hindu 1.3%, other 2%, none 25.7%, unspecified 7.2% (2011 est.)
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Total population
| 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2014* | 2019** |
| 57.237 million | 58.883 million | 62.262 million | 64.511 million | 66.697 million |
*Estimate **Forecast
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Urban population as % of total population
| 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2013 |
| 78.4% | 78% | 79% | 82% |
% of population living on less than $2 a day
1.4% (2010)
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)
38.0 (2010)
(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
Freedom House rating
Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 1 (2014)
(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free)
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Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed 52.9% Mobile 138.1%
(2013)
(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)
Internet users as % of total population
89.84% (2013)
Cost of living - Mercer index(ranking by city on a basis of 214; the 1st is the most expensive and the 214th is the least expensive)
London: 12th (2014)
CO2 emissions(Metric tons of CO2 per capita)
7.9 (2010)