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Country Overview: The United Kingdom is one of five trillion-dollar economies in western Europe. Its economic strength has allowed it to remain independent of the European Union, and public opinion polls have shown steady, substantial opposition to abandoning the pound for the euro.
Beginning with Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government in the 1980s, the government greatly reduced public ownership and held down the growth of social welfare programs.
Agriculture is intensive and highly mechanized, producing about 60% of the nation's food needs. The UK boasts large coal, natural gas and oil reserves, and primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation.
As is the case in many other Western nations, industry continues to decline in importance, with services dominating GDP. Improvements in education, transport and health services have brought higher taxes and a widening public deficit.
Source: CIA World Factbook, Reuters
What to Watch: There are more than $2 billion of foreign exchange turnovers each day in London -- 32 percent of the global share. And 70 percent of all Eurobonds trade here -- it has 20 percent of international bank lending and the world's leading market for international insurance.
The rest of the world is already in London in a big way. It has 40 percent of the global foreign equity market and 610 international companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. But with its first bank run in over 100 years, has the square mile taken a major knock to it's reputation?
"Let's see what the situation looks like in six to twelve months time -- but it hasn't helped," said Roger Nightingale with Millennium Asset Management.
There are 255 foreign banks in London and 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies have offices here. And if for no other reason than having a time zone in the middle of the global business, it's hard to find anyone who has plans to leave soon. 2000 2006 Population 59.7 million 60.4 million Economy GNI, Atlas method (current US$) 1.5 trillion 2.4 trillion GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$) 25,010.0 40,180.0 GDP (current US$) 1.4 trillion 2.3 trillion GDP growth (annual %) 4.0 2.8 Inflation, GDP deflator (annual%) 1.2 2.4 Agriculture, value added (% of GDP) 1.0 N/A Industry, value added (% of GDP) 1.0 N/A Services, etc., value added (% of GDP) 70.6 N/A Exports of goods and services (% of GDP) 28.0 N/A Imports of goods and services (% of GDP) 30.1 N/A Gross capital formation (% of GDP) 17.5 N/A Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP) 37.9 N/A Cash surplus/deficit (% of GDP) 1.7 N/A States and Markets Time required to start a business (days) N/A 18 Market capitalization of listed companies (% of GDP) 178.6 N/A Military expenditure (% of GDP) 2.4 N/A Fixed line and mobile phone subscribers (per 1,000 people) 1,317.0 N/A Internet users (per 1,000 people) 264.5 N/A Roads, paved (% of total roads) 100.0 N/A High-technology exports (% of manufactured exports) 30.0 N/A Global links Merchandise trade (% of GDP) 43.6 44.5 Net barter terms of trade (2000 = 100) 100.0 104.3 Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$) 122.2 billion N/A Workers' remittances and compensation of employees, received (US$) 3.6 billion 7.3 billion
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Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes