| STAT | European Union | United Kingdom | HISTORY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central bank discount rate |
1.75%
Ranked 85th. 4 times more than United Kingdom |
0.5%
Ranked 49th. |
|
| Distribution of family income > Gini index |
30.4
Ranked 15th. |
40
Ranked 1st. 32% more than European Union |
|
| Overview | Internally, the EU is attempting to lower trade barriers, adopt a common currency, and move toward convergence of living standards. Internationally, the EU aims to bolster Europe's trade position and its political and economic power. Because of the great differences in per capita income among member states (from $7,000 to $69,000) and historic national animosities, the EU faces difficulties in devising and enforcing common policies. For example, since 2003 Germany and France have flouted the member states' treaty obligation to prevent their national budgets from running more than a 3% deficit. In 2004 and 2007, the EU admitted 10 and two countries, respectively, that are, in general, less advanced technologically and economically than the other 15. Eleven established EU member states introduced the euro as their common currency on 1 January 1999 (Greece did so two years later), but the UK, Sweden, and Denmark chose not to participate. Of the 12 most recent member states, only Slovenia (1 January 2007) and Cyprus and Malta (1 January 2008) have adopted the euro; the remaining nine are legally required to adopt the currency upon meeting EU's fiscal and monetary convergence criteria. | The UK, a leading trading power and financial center, is the second largest economy in Europe after Germany. 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 (Labour) government to implement a number of measures to stimulate the economy and stabilize the financial markets; these include nationalizing parts of the banking system, temporarily cutting taxes, suspending public sector borrowing rules, and moving forward public spending on capital projects. Facing burgeoning public deficits and debt levels, in 2010 the CAMERON-led coalition government (between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats) initiated a five-year austerity program, which aimed to lower London's budget deficit from over 10% of GDP in 2010 to nearly 1% by 2015. In November 2011, Chancellor of the Exchequer George OSBORNE announced additional austerity measures through 2017 because of slower-than-expected economic growth and the impact of the euro-zone debt crisis. The CAMERON government raised the value added tax from 17.5% to 20% in 2011. It has pledged to reduce the corporation tax rate to 21% by 2014. The Bank of England (BoE) implemented an asset purchase program of up to £375 billion (approximately $605 billion) as of December 2012. During times of economic crisis, the BoE coordinates interest rate moves with the European Central Bank, but Britain remains outside the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). In 2012, weak consumer spending and subdued business investment weighed on the economy. GDP fell 0.1%, and the budget deficit remained stubbornly high at 7.7% of GDP. Public debt continued to increase. |
|
| GDP |
$16.63 trillion
Ranked 1st. 7 times more than United Kingdom |
$2.44 trillion
Ranked 7th. |
|
| GDP > Composition by sector > Industry |
25%
Ranked 85th. 18% more than United Kingdom |
21.1%
Ranked 146th. |
|
| GDP > Per capita |
$29,423.40
per capita
Ranked 29th. |
$35,046.59
per capita
Ranked 21st. 19% more than European Union |
|
| GDP > Purchasing power parity |
$14.90 trillion
Ranked 1st. 6 times more than United Kingdom |
$2.31 trillion
Ranked 8th. |
|
| GDP > Purchasing power parity per capita |
$29,405.51
Ranked 28th. |
$35,152.70
Ranked 21st. 20% more than European Union |
|
| GDP per capita |
$32,676.48
Ranked 25th. |
$38,514.46
Ranked 21st. 18% more than European Union |
|
| GDP per person |
32,838.17
Ranked 24th. |
35,164.86
Ranked 22nd. 7% more than European Union |
|
| Inbound tourism income > Current US$ |
$463.27 billion
Ranked 1st. 10 times more than United Kingdom |
$45.34 billion
Ranked 7th. |
|
| Inflation rate > Consumer prices |
1.8%
Ranked 121st. |
2.8%
Ranked 126th. 56% more than European Union |
|
| Tax > Tax rates |
35.43
Ranked 28th. |
38.26
Ranked 18th. 8% more than European Union |
|
| Tourist arrivals |
371.04 million
Ranked 1st. 12 times more than United Kingdom |
30.14 million
Ranked 7th. |
|
| Tourist arrivals > Per capita |
755.65
per 1,000 people
Ranked 39th. 53% more than United Kingdom |
494.59
per 1,000 people
Ranked 64th. |
|
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