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United Kingdom
| Economy Overview |
The UK, a leading trading power and financial center, is one of the quartet 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. GDP growth slipped in 2001-03 as the global downturn, the high value of the pound, and the bursting of the "new economy" bubble hurt manufacturing and exports. Output recovered in 2004, to 3.2% growth. The economy is one of the strongest in Europe; inflation, interest rates, and unemployment remain low. The relatively good economic performance has complicated the BLAIR 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 they cite public opinion polls that continue to show a majority of Britons opposed to the euro. Meantime, the government has been speeding up the improvement of education, transport, and health services, at a cost in higher taxes. |
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| Economy Statistics |
| Exports: |
$347.2 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) [?]
This entry provides the total US dollar amount of merchandise exports on an f.o.b. (free on board) basis. These figures are calculated on an exchange rate basis, i.e., not in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.
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Export
Commodities: |
manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco [?]
This entry provides a rank ordering of exported products starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.
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Export
Partners: |
US 15.3%, Germany 10.8%, France 9.2%, Ireland 6.8%, Netherlands 6%, Belgium 5.1%, Spain 4.5%, Italy 4.2% (2004) [?]
This entry provides a rank ordering of trading partners starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.
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| Imports: |
$439.4 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) [?]
This entry provides the total US dollar amount of merchandise imports on a c.i.f. (cost, insurance, and freight) or f.o.b. (free on board) basis. These figures are calculated on an exchange rate basis, i.e., not in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.
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Import
Commodities: |
manufactured goods, machinery, fuels; foodstuffs [?]
This entry provides a rank ordering of imported products starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.
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Import
Partners: |
Germany 13%, US 9.3%, France 7.4%, Netherlands 6.6%, Belgium 4.9%, China 4.3%, Italy 4.3% (2004) [?]
This entry provides a rank ordering of trading partners starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.
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