United Kingdom/

The UK, a leading trading power and financial center, is the third largest economy in Europe after Germany and France. 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 resources, but its oil and natural gas reserves are declining and the UK became a net importer of energy in 2005. Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account by far for the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in importance. After emerging from recession in 1992, Britain’s economy enjoyed the longest period of expansion on record during which time growth outpaced most of Western Europe. In 2008, however, the global financial crisis hit the economy particularly hard, due to the importance of its financial sector. Sharply declining home prices, high consumer debt, and the global economic slowdown compounded Britain’s economic problems, pushing the economy into recession in the latter half of 2008 and prompting the then BROWN government to implement a number of measures to stimulate the economy and stabilize the financial markets; these include nationalizing parts of the banking system, cutting taxes, suspending public sector borrowing rules, and moving forward public spending on capital projects. Facing burgeoning public deficits and debt levels, the CAMERON government in 2010 initiiated a five-year austerity program, which aims to lower London’s budget deficit from over 11% of GDP in 2010 to nearly 1% by 2015. The Bank of England periodically coordinates interest rate moves with the European Central Bank, but Britain remains outside the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

$2.189 trillion (2010 est.)

$2.154 trillion (2009 est.)

$2.268 trillion (2008 est.)

$2.259 trillion (2010 est.)

1.6% (2010 est.)

-5% (2009 est.)

-0.1% (2008 est.)

$35,100 (2010 est.)

$34,800 (2009 est.)

$36,800 (2008 est.)

31.45 million (2010 est.)

7.9% (2010 est.)

7.6% (2009 est.)

14% (2006 est.)

34 (2005)

36.8 (1999)

14.4% of GDP (2010 est.)

76.5% of GDP (2010 est.)

68.2% of GDP (2009 est.)

3.3% (2010 est.)

2.2% (2009 est.)

NA% (31 December 2009)

0.86% (31 December 2008)

0.63% (31 December 2009 est.)

4.63% (31 December 2008 est.)

$88.62 billion (31 December 2010 est)

$84.92 billion (31 December 2009 est)

$3.344 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)

$3.199 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)

$5.151 trillion (31 December 2009)

$4.436 trillion (31 December 2008)

$2.796 trillion (31 December 2009)

$1.852 trillion (31 December 2008)

$3.859 trillion (31 December 2007)

cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry; fish

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

1.9% (2010 est.)

368.6 billion kWh (2007 est.)

345.8 billion kWh (2007 est.)

1.272 billion kWh (2008 est.)

12.29 billion kWh (2008 est.)

1.502 million bbl/day (2009 est.)

1.669 million bbl/day (2009 est.)

1.393 million bbl/day (2008 est.)

1.491 million bbl/day (2008 est.)

3.084 billion bbl (1 January 2010 est.)

58.56 billion cu m (2009 est.)

87.45 billion cu m (2009 est.)

12.17 billion cu m (2009 est.)

41.06 billion cu m (2009 est.)

292 billion cu m (1 January 2010 est.)

-$40.34 billion (2010 est.)

-$23.65 billion (2009 est.)

$405.6 billion (2010 est.)

$356.2 billion (2009 est.)

manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco

US 14.71%, Germany 11.06%, France 8%, Netherlands 7.79%, Ireland 6.89%, Belgium 4.65%, Spain 4% (2009)

$546.5 billion (2010 est.)

$483.9 billion (2009 est.)

manufactured goods, machinery, fuels; foodstuffs

Germany 12.87%, US 9.74%, China 8.88%, Netherlands 6.94%, France 6.64%, Belgium 4.86%, Norway 4.84%, Ireland 4.01%, Italy 3.99% (2009)

$NA (31 December 2010 est.)

$66.72 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$8.981 trillion (30 June 2010)

$9.041 trillion (31 December 2008)

$1.169 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)

$1.125 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)

$1.705 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)

$1.652 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)

British pounds (GBP) per US dollar - 0.6504 (2010), 0.6389 (2009), 0.5302 (2008), 0.4993 (2007), 0.5418 (2006)