United Kingdom Economy 2008

Economy - overview:
The UK, a leading trading power and financial center, is one of the quintet of trillion dollar economies of Western Europe. Over the past two decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership and contained the growth of social welfare programs. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with less than 2% of the labor force. 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. Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account by far for the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in importance. Since emerging from recession in 1992, Britain's economy has enjoyed the longest period of expansion on record; growth has remained in the 2-3% range since 2004, outpacing most of Europe. The economy's strength has complicated the Labor government's efforts to make a case for Britain to join the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Critics point out that the economy is doing well outside of EMU, and public opinion polls show a majority of Britons are opposed to the euro. The BROWN government has been speeding up the improvement of education, health services, and affordable housing at a cost in higher taxes and a widening public deficit.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$2.147 trillion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$2.472 trillion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
2.9% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$35,300 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 0.9%
industry: 23.6%
services: 75.5% (2007 est.)

Labor force:
30.71 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 1.4%
industry: 18.2%
services: 80.4% (2006 est.)

Unemployment rate:
5.4% (2007 est.)

Population below poverty line:
14% (2006 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 28.5% (1999)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
34 (2005)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.4% (2007 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
18.3% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.155 trillion
expenditures: $1.237 trillion (2007 est.)

Public debt:
43.3% of GDP (2007 est.)

Agriculture - products:
cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry; fish

Industries:
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, other consumer goods

Industrial production growth rate:
0.7% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:
372.6 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - consumption:
348.7 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - exports:
2.839 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - imports:
11.16 billion kWh (2005)

Oil - production:
1.861 million bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption:
1.82 million bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports:
1.956 million bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports:
1.654 million bbl/day (2004)

Oil - proved reserves:
4.029 billion bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

natural gas - production:
84.16 billion cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - consumption:
91.16 billion cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - exports:
8.843 billion cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - imports:
15.84 billion cu m (2005)

natural gas - proved reserves:
509.2 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:
-$111 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:
$415.6 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:
manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco

Exports - partners:
US 13.9%, Germany 10.9%, France 10.4%, Ireland 7.1%, Netherlands 6.3%, Belgium 5.2%, Spain 4.5% (2006)

Imports:
$595.6 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - partners:
Germany 12.8%, US 8.9%, France 6.9%, Netherlands 6.6%, China 5.3%, Norway 4.9%, Belgium 4.5% (2006)

Economic aid - donor:
ODA, $10.7 billion (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$47.04 billion (2006 est.)

Debt - external:
$10.45 trillion (30 June 2007)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$1.135 trillion (2006 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$1.487 trillion (2006 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$3.058 trillion (2005)

Currency (code):
British pound (GBP)

Exchange rates:
British pounds per US dollar - 0.4993 (2007), 0.5418 (2006), 0.5493 (2005), 0.5462 (2004), 0.6125 (2003)