The Uk - Cia World Factbook

[cashinmattress]

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 resources, but its oil and natural gas reserves are declining and the UK became a net importer of energy in 2005; energy industries now contribute about 4% to GDP. 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 enjoyed the longest period of expansion on record during which time growth outpaced most of Western Europe. The global economic slowdown, tight credit, and falling home prices, however, pushed Britain back into recession in the latter half of 2008 and prompted the BROWN government to implement a number of new measures to stimulate the economy and stabilize the financial markets; these include part-nationalizing the banking system, cutting taxes, suspending public sector borrowing rules, and bringing forward public spending on capital projects. 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), and opinion polls show a majority of Britons oppose joining the euro.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$2.231 trillion (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 7

$2.215 trillion (2007)

$2.151 trillion (2006)

note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP (official exchange rate):

$2.787 trillion (2008 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

0.7% (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 196

3% (2007 est.)

2.8% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$36,600 (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 31

$36,500 (2007 est.)

$35,500 (2006 est.)

note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 0.9%

industry: 22.8%

services: 76.2% (2008 est.)

Labor force:

31.2 million (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 17

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 1.4%

industry: 18.2%

services: 80.4% (2006 est.)

Unemployment rate:

5.5% (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 65

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 2.1%

highest 10%: 28.5% (1999)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

34 (2005)

country comparison to the world: 92

Investment (gross fixed):

16.7% of GDP (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 136

Budget:

revenues: $1.107 trillion

expenditures: $1.242 trillion (2008 est.)

Public debt:

47.2% of GDP (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 41

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

3.8% (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 57

Central bank discount rate:

NA

Commercial bank prime lending rate:

5.52% (31 December 2007)

country comparison to the world: 149

Stock of money:

NA

Stock of quasi money:

NA

Stock of domestic credit:

$5.278 trillion (31 December 2007)

country comparison to the world: 6

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$3.859 trillion (31 December 2007)

country comparison to the world: 5

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:

-0.1% (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 152

Electricity - production:

371 billion kWh (2007 est.)

country comparison to the world: 12

Electricity - consumption:

348.5 billion kWh (2006 est.)

country comparison to the world: 12

Electricity - exports:

3.398 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports:

8.613 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Oil - production:

1.69 million bbl/day (2007est.)

country comparison to the world: 19

Oil - consumption:

1.763 million bbl/day (2007 est.)

country comparison to the world: 13

Oil - exports:

1.749 million bbl/day (2005)

country comparison to the world: 14

Oil - imports:

1.673 million bbl/day (2005)

country comparison to the world: 13

Oil - proved reserves:

3.6 billion bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 29

Natural gas - production:

72.3 billion cu m (2007 est.)

country comparison to the world: 10

Natural gas - consumption:

91.1 billion cu m (2007 est.)

country comparison to the world: 8

Natural gas - exports:

10.4 billion cu m (2007 est.)

country comparison to the world: 19

Natural gas - imports:

29.2 billion cu m (2007 est.)

country comparison to the world: 11

Natural gas - proved reserves:

412 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 34

Current account balance:

-$72.54 billion (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 189

Exports:

$468.7 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 10

Exports - commodities:

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

Exports - partners:

US 14.2%, Germany 11.1%, France 8.1%, Ireland 8%, Netherlands 6.8%, Belgium 5.3%, Spain 4.5%, Italy 4.1% (2007)

Imports:

$645.7 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 7

Imports - commodities:

manufactured goods, machinery, fuels; foodstuffs

Imports - partners:

Germany 14.2%, US 8.6%, China 7.3%, Netherlands 7.3%, France 6.9%, Belgium 4.7%, Norway 4.7%, Italy 4.2% (2007)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$57.3 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

country comparison to the world: 26

Debt - external:

$10.45 trillion (30 June 2007)

country comparison to the world: 2

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$1.409 trillion (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 2

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$1.841 trillion (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 3

Exchange rates:

British pounds (GBP) per US dollar - 0.5302 (2008 est.), 0.4993 (2007), 0.5418 (2006), 0.5493 (2005), 0.5462 (2004)

It will interesting to see what 2009 brings to these estimates.

Beyond the horrible debt numbers, it is a very bad thing to have only 1.4% of the population working in agriculture.

[impatient_mug]

It will interesting to see what 2009 brings to these estimates.

Beyond the horrible debt numbers, it is a very bad thing to have only 1.4% of the population working in agriculture.

Is it really? It just means that there will be plenty of manual jobs if fuel becomes more expensive than the minimum wage

[Pindar]

You can't take the number working in agriculture to be representative of the output of agriculture since mechanisation means that far fewer farmers are needed per hectare to produce the same food output. This has been the case since oil revolutionised agriculture.

[Strompy]

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$1.409 trillion (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 2

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$1.841 trillion (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 3

That's interesting.

Britain has a globilised economy. Most of its most profitable companies(indeed, the world's most profitable) are foreign based- BP, Shell, Rio Tinto, BG, Anglo/American, etc,. And all that inward investment ...

Britain's IIP, maybe this is the key?

Edited June 10, 2009 by Strompy

[babesagainstmachines]

Beyond the horrible debt numbers, it is a very bad thing to have only 1.4% of the population working in agriculture.

Why?

[Strompy]

Why?

[cashinmattress]

Why?

My worry is that consumption at the rate we are used to is not sustainable, at least in the cost ratio we currently enjoy.

This is true with all the service based economies.

USA

Labor force - by occupation:

farming, forestry, and fishing 0.6%

manufacturing, extraction, transportation, and crafts 22.6%

managerial, professional, and technical 35.5%

sales and office 24.8%

other services 16.5%

note: figures exclude the unemployed (2007)

Canada

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture 2%

manufacturing 13%

construction 6%

services 76%

other 3% (2006)

Germany

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 2.4%

industry: 29.7%

services: 67.8% (2005)

Australia

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 3.6%

industry: 21.1%

services: 75% (2005 est.)

France

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 3.8%

industry: 24.3%

services: 71.8% (2005)

Russia

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 10.2%

industry: 27.4%

services: 62.4% (2007 est.)

China

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 43%

industry: 25%

services: 32% (2006 est.)

India

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 60%

industry: 12%

services: 28% (2003)

Of course this is not a big issue for the day, but in a generation it will weigh heavily.

The real sad part is that we will lose the knowledge and expertise required to run a successful national agriculture, even with all the genetic witch doctoring going on.

[Pindar]

The real sad part is that we will lose the knowledge and expertise required to run a successful national agriculture, even with all the genetic witch doctoring going on.

What, like ploughing fields and planting seeds?

[GrahamL]

Why?

+1

[Bloo Loo]

What, like ploughing fields and planting seeds?

indeed, what weather, what depth and how dense do you plant a given crop.... and when?

[Ruffneck]

horrifying debt figure

[Si1]

It will interesting to see what 2009 brings to these estimates.

Beyond the horrible debt numbers, it is a very bad thing to have only 1.4% of the population working in agriculture.

why? do you enjoy poverty - you sound like a socialist.

[abharrisson]

Did the one on iraq a few years back read

Nuclear Weapons- Some ?, Nuclear weapons- None, or Nuclear weapons - N/a....

Joking apart, interessting anc concise breakdown of the key stats.... is this the CIA version of the Pirelli calendar.

[cashinmattress]

why? do you enjoy poverty - you sound like a socialist.

How is it that you derive this idealogue?

Are you a fascist?

[the_austrian]

It will interesting to see what 2009 brings to these estimates.

Beyond the horrible debt numbers, it is a very bad thing to have only 1.4% of the population working in agriculture.

Worse than the consolidation of people working the land, is the consolidation of land ownership... No one should be allowed to own so much land that it infringes on the rights of the rest of the population to look after themselves.

[Si1]

How is it that you derive this idealogue?

Are you a fascist?

logic and learning

no, but it sounds like you are - bit like Stalin