Great Britain is one of the world’s leading industrialized nations. It has achieved this position despite the lack of most raw materials needed for industry. The country also must import about 40% of its food suplies. Thus, its prosperity has been dependent upon the export of manufactured goods in exchange for raw materials and foodstuffs. Within the manufacturing sector, the largest industries include machine tools; electric power, automation, and railroad equipment; ships; motor vehicles and parts; aircraft; electronic and communications equipment; metals; chemicals; petroleum; coal; food processing; paper and printing; textiles; and clothing.

During the 1970s and 80s, nearly 3.5 million manufacturing jobs were lost, but in the 1990s over 3.5 million jobs were created in service-related industries. By the late 1990s, banking, insurance, business services, and other service industries accounted for two thirds of the GDP and employed almost 70% of the workforce. This trend was also reflected in a shift in Great Britain’s economic base, which has benefited the southeast, southwest, and Midlands regions of the country, while the north of England and Northern Ireland have been hard hit by the changing economy.

The main industrial and commercial areas are the great conurbations, where about one third of the country’s population lives. The administrative and financial center and most important port is Greater London, which also has various manufacturing industries. London is Europe’s foremost financial city. Metal goods, vehicles, aircraft, synthetic fibers, and electronic equipment are made in the West Midlands conurbation, which with the addition of Coventry roughly corresponds to the former metropolitan county of West Midlands. The industrial Black Country and the city of Birmingham are in the West Midlands. Greater Manchester has cotton and synthetic textiles, coal, and chemical industries and is a transportation and warehousing center. Liverpool , Britain’s second port, along with Southport and Saint Helens are part of the Merseyside conurbation. Leeds , Bradford , and the neighboring metropolitan districts are Britain’s main center of woolen, worsted, and other textile production. The Tyneside-Wearside region, with Newcastle upon Tyne as its center and Sunderland as a main city, has coal mines and steel, electrical engineering, chemical, and shipbuilding and repair industries.

The South Wales conurbation, with the ports of Swansea , Cardiff , and Newport , was traditionally a center of coal mining and steel manufacturing; coal mining has declined sharply, however, in many parts of the region. Current important industries also include oil refining, metals production (lead, zinc, nickel, aluminum), synthetic fibers, and electronics. In Scotland, the region around the River Clyde, including Glasgow , is noted for shipbuilding, marine engineering, and printing as well as textile, food, and chemicals production. The Belfast area in Northern Ireland is a shipbuilding, textile, and food products center.

Great Britain has abundant supplies of coal, oil, and natural gas. Production of oil from offshore wells in the North Sea began in 1975, and the country is self-sufficient in petroleum. Other mineral resources include iron ore, tin, limestone, salt, china clay, oil shale, gypsum, and lead.

About 25% of Britain’s land is arable, and almost half is suitable for meadows and pastures. Its agriculture is highly mechanized and extremely productive; barley, wheat, rapeseed, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits, and vegetables are the main crops. The widespread dairy industry produces milk, eggs, and cheese. Beef cattle and large numbers of sheep, as well as poultry and pigs, are raised throughout much of the country. There is also a sizable fishing industry, with cod, haddock, mackerel, whiting, trout, salmon, and shellfish making up the bulk of the catch.

The country’s chief exports are manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods, and transport equipment. The chief imports are manufactured goods, machinery, semifinished and consumer goods, and foodstuffs. Since the early 1970s, Great Britain’s trade focus has shifted from the United States to the European Union, which now accounts for over 50% of its trade. Germany, the United States, France, and the Netherlands are the main trading partners, and the Commonwealth countries are also important.

The United Kingdom, a leading trading power and financial centre, has the fourth largest economy in the world, the second largest in Europe, and is a member of the European Union. Its capital, London, is the largest financial centre in the world.

Since the 1980s, and particularly under the Government of Margaret Thatcher, many state enterprises that were nationalised in the 1940s have been privatised.

GDP growth slipped in 2001–2002 as the global downturn, the high value of the Pound Sterling, and the bursting of the “new economy” bubble hurt manufacturing and exports. However the UK economy is one of the strongest in Europe; inflation, interest rates, and unemployment remain low. Growth is now at 3.0% per annum, which is higher than that of France, Germany and many other European countries.

Contents

1 Energy resources

2 Industries

2.1 Tourism
2.2 Agriculture

3 Taxation

4 Currency

Energy resources

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.

Due to North Sea oil, during the 1990s the UK became a net hydrocarbon exporter, and the second largest producer of oil in western Europe after Norway. In June 2004 hydrocarbon exports fell below imports for the first time, although they are not expected to do so permanently for some years.

Around about 80% of UK electricity is currently generated from fossil fuels, nuclear power and an increasing contribution from wind turbines make up the bulk of the remainder. The UK is the world’s 8th greatest producer of carbon emissions, producing around 2.3% of the total generated from fossil fuels. The government is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol and has launched a Climate Change Programme to reduce emissions significantly beyond the Kyoto commitments.

Due to the island location of the UK, the country has great potential for generating electricity from wave power and tidal power, although these have not yet been exploited on a commercial basis.

Industries

Service industries, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account by far for the largest proportion of GDP and employ around 70% of the working population.

Manufacturing continues to decline in importance.

Tourism

Tourism is the 6th largest industry in the UK, contributing 76 billion pounds to the economy. It employs 1,800,000 full-time equivalent people — 6.1% of the working population (2002 figures) .

Agriculture

Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labour force. It contributes around 2% of GDP. Around two thirds of production is devoted to livestock, one third to arable crops.

Taxation

The Labour government has increased funding of education, transport, and the National Health Service, at a cost in higher taxes. The government has been criticised by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats for its stealth tax raises.

Currency

The relatively good economic performance has complicated the Blair government’s efforts to make a case for Britain to leave the Pound Sterling and join the Euro. The British Prime Minister has pledged to hold a public referendum if membership meets Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown’s “five economic tests". The tests are:
Are business cycles and economic structures compatible with European interest rates on a permanent basis?
If problems emerge, is there sufficient flexibility to deal with them?
What impact would entry into the Euro have on the UK’s financial services industry?
Would joining the Euro create better conditions for firms making long-term decisions to invest in Britain?
Would joining the Euro promote higher growth, stability and a lasting increase in jobs?

When assessing the tests, Gordon Brown concluded that while the decision was close, the United Kingdom should not yet join the Euro. In particular, he cited fluctuations in house prices as a barrier to immediate entry. The tests will be reassessed in the future. Public opinion polls show that a majority of Britons are currently opposed to the single currency.