United Kingdom worth 2 percent less in 2008

LONDON - The United Kingdom was worth 2 percent less in 2008, the first reduction since 1992, government statisticians said Monday.

The total value of the nation was 6.954 trillion pounds ($11.7 trillion) at the end of the year, down 177 billion pounds, the Office for National Statistics said.

The value of housing fell 9 percent in the year to 3.9 billion pounds, the report said.

Breaking out balance national balance sheets, the agency said households and nonprofit institutions which serve them, including various charities, had a net worth of 6.58 billion pounds.

The central government's liabilities exceeded assets by 261 billion pounds and the liabilities of financial corporations were 112 billion pounds greater than assets.

Local government agencies had a net worth of 517 billion pounds, the agency said.

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On the Net: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/capstocks0809.pdf

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