The material contains information about the economy and economic development of the state. The article points to the most significant export items that bring a significant share of the profits to the country's budget. An idea is being formed that the UK is among the leaders among countries in terms of economic development.

The development of the UK economy

Great Britain - refers to states with a high level of economic development. Over the past two decades, the English economy has seen such transformations as:

reduction of the public sector;
reduction of tax rates for individuals and legal entities;
the economy was regulated in order to reduce government spending.

In terms of energy reserves, England is on the first position in Europe. This is due to the fact that the state is the largest producer of oil and gas.

Rice. 1. Gas production in England.

An important source of income for the country is exports.

Coal mining is recognized as a historically significant economic process to this day. Today, volumes are constantly declining.

The economic development of England is such that the country is in seventh position among countries with developed economies.

Economy of Great Britain

The British economy is highly internationalized. More than 15% of GDP is sold outside the country. The English economy is characterized by intra-industry specialization with extensive development of detailed and complex technological specialization.

Rice. 3. Economic Regions of Great Britain on the map.

According to the level of development in England, a dozen economic regions are distinguished, which differ in the level of development of productive forces and industrial specialization, the specifics of the development of the economy, and the dominance of the existing territorial-production relationships.

Great Britain is in second position after the United States in terms of the number of Nobel Prizes received by the country's scientists.

The development of the modern economic sector of Great Britain is closely connected with high technologies. England is one of the leading states in the world scientific and technical progress, and among the European powers, the island state has the greatest scientific and technical potential.

What have we learned?

In the article, we briefly got acquainted with the UK economy. We learned which areas of export are priority for the country. We found out that England holds a leading position in the field of scientific and technical progress and high technologies.

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It is known that...

45% of non-whites live in London (78% black Africans, 61% black Caribbeans, 54% Bangladeshis). Pakistanis: 19% London, 21% Western Highlands, 20% Yorkshire, 16% North West. The resettlement of the non-white population: England - 9%, Wales, Scotland - 2%, North. Ireland - less than 1%, Highlands - 13%, South East and North West - 8%, Yorkshire and the Humber - 7%

Also...

The English inhabit England, most of Wales and form compact settlements in some areas in the south of Scotland. The Scots inhabit mainly the northwestern regions of the island of Great Britain and the Shetland, Orkney and Hebrides Islands adjacent to their coast. In the mountains of the northwestern part of the island, a peculiar ethnic group lives, preserving its original traditions and culture - the Gaels (highlanders). Welsh - Inhabit Wales.
Sev. Ireland: 500 thousand indigenous inhabitants of the island - the Irish - Catholics, 1 million Anglo-Irish and Scotch-Irish.

Population

Demographic situation
Currently, the country is characterized by low population growth - the result of both the convergence of birth and death rates, and a decrease in the balance of migration. In some years, the increase is negative (with a positive balance of migration). The problems of “nation aging” are connected with low natural growth. In 2002, persons aged 65 and over made up 15.8% of the population. The 2001 census showed that for the first time the number of people over 60 exceeded the number of children under the age of 15.

Average life expectancy: 76 years for men, 81 years for women. The birth rate (per 1,000 people) is 12.7. Mortality rate (per 1000 people) - 9.1. The average composition of a family is 2 children and parents.

Economically active population of Great Britain. In this area, there is a clear predominance of men over women. If there are 13.6 million employed men, then there are almost 2 times less women - 7.6 million. 60 years. this is due to the "aging" of the nation.

Royal guard

The Royal Guard (nicknamed "Bearskins" - "bear skins") is the personal guard of the English monarch. In our lives, there is no particular need to fear for the life of a king or queen, and today the guards perform mainly ceremonial duties. However, the traditions of the guards originated about three centuries ago, when the British monarchs really took to the battlefield. The soldiers in the guards regiments were selected very strictly, these were the best parts.

The British Guards Division today consists of two mounted and five infantry regiments. The cavalry is the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment (its uniform is red uniforms, and in winter also red capes) and the Royal Horse Guards Regiment - in blue uniforms and blue capes. Her Majesty's Foot Guards - Coldstream, Grenadier, Scottish, Irish and Welsh. All infantry guardsmen wear high bearskin hats and red coats. That is, it is not easy to distinguish the soldiers of one or another regiment from each other - except perhaps by the location of the buttons on the uniform and the color of the cockade on the hat.

The famous caps of the guards are made from the fur of the North American grizzly bear. The officers' caps are taller and more shiny. The fact is that they are made from the fur of a male, and the caps of privates and non-commissioned officers are made from the fur of a female grizzly (it does not look so impressive).

Brief economic characteristics of Great Britain

Great Britain is a highly developed industrial country, one of the top five most developed countries in the world. In terms of energy reserves, the UK ranks first in Europe and is a major producer of oil and gas

The main feature of the country's macroeconomic development is that the UK has chosen a neoliberal, "Anglo-Saxon" model of development. It is characterized by the predominance of free private enterprise (more than 80% of total production). The private sector provides over 75% of all jobs. The policy of the British government is aimed at creating the most favorable opportunities for the development of private business. However, with a general increase in the living standards of the population in the country, there is a significant polarization of income, when 10% of the population owns 54% of the national wealth.

Great Britain in the international division of labor acts as a supplier of industrial products. At the same time, the economic role of Great Britain in the modern world is determined not only by industrial, but also by banking, insurance, ship-freight and other commercial activities. About 30% of its gross national product comes from manufacturing and 45% from services, including transport and communications, retail, insurance, banks and other financial institutions, healthcare and education. The share of the service sector in the gross national product is growing much faster than the share of the manufacturing industry, which is even somewhat declining. The share of agriculture also decreased - to 3% and extractive industry - to 1.4%.

The export of industrial goods and the export of "services" for the development of the UK economy is of exceptional importance, which together give 26% of the gross national product. An important source of income for the British international monopolies has been and remains the export of capital to other countries.

With the reorientation of British industry to the latest industries, the external market began to play a greater role for its development than cheap labor. Recently, this market has been found by the British monopolies in the developed capitalist countries, whose share in the export of British capital has exceeded 3/5. The export of British capital to developing countries is still large: it accounts for almost half of the capital exported to these countries by Western European states. At the same time, the contributions of foreign monopolies to the British economy are growing rapidly.

Great Britain, having lost almost all of its colonies, has lost many economic advantages: control over the world's richest deposits - non-ferrous metals, oil, important sources of natural rubber, cheap agricultural products, guaranteed markets for manufactured goods and unlimited opportunities for the export of capital to all continents.

Being indebted to the US and its "junior" partner and taking on significant NATO expenses, Great Britain is forced to put up with the penetration of American capital into its economy, the role of which is growing every year. The money of magnates from across the ocean is invested mainly in rapidly developing modern industries. American firms produce more than half of automobiles, 3/5 of computers and the same proportion of medicines. More than half of the companies involved in oil and gas exploration in the North Sea are also American.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland covers an area of 244 thousand square meters. km, population - 59 million people. Most of the inhabitants - 4/5 - live in cities.

The peculiarity of the British economy and its position in the world economy reflects the peculiarities of the country's development in the past century. Attention is drawn to the discrepancy between the seriously undermined positions of the country in industrial production, international trade and the monetary sphere, on the one hand, and the weakening, but still very strong positions in the export of capital, as well as the continuing role of London as one of the leading financial and commodity- exchange centers.

In the global economy, the UK ranks fifth. It accounts for 4.2% of total GDP and 1% of the world's population, and per capita accounts for almost $22,000 of GDP. In terms of industrial production, the UK is in fifth place among developed economies, in terms of foreign investment it is in second place in the world. It still remains one of the largest powers, has a serious influence on the development of international economic and political relations.

Features of economic development. The main distinguishing feature of the country's macroeconomic development is that it does not develop on the basis of the principles of the social market economy like Germany or France, but uses the neoliberal, Anglo-Saxon model of development. It is characterized by the predominance of free private enterprise. The share of the private sector in the country's total output exceeds 80%. The private sector provides over 75% of all employment in the country. The policy of the British government provides the most favorable conditions for the development of entrepreneurship.

Sectoral structure of the economy. The structure of the UK economy is as follows: agriculture, forestry and fishing - 1.8% of GDP and 2.1% of the total labor force; industry and construction - 31.4% of GDP and 26.4% of employees; the service sector - 66.8% of GDP and 71.5% of the employed (see Table 8). In the latter indicator, the UK surpasses most European countries and is approaching the US. The sectors of financial, insurance, telecommunications and business services demonstrate the greatest dynamism.

The role of the manufacturing industry has decreased. Major shifts are taking place in the manufacturing industry itself. The role of new science-intensive industries is growing: chemical (primarily low-tonnage chemistry), electrical engineering, electronics, aerospace, instrumentation, and production of equipment for offshore oil production. In terms of the development of biotechnology, Britain is second only to the United States.

Table 8
Key economic indicators, growth rates
(% to the previous year)


GDP (in comparable prices)
Volume of industrial production (in comparable prices)
Inflation (at retail prices)
State budget (deficit /-/, surplus /+/), billion fl. Art.
Export of goods, billion pounds Art.
Imports of goods, billion pounds Art.
Balance of payments on current transactions, bln. Art.

The British economy is highly internationalized. Over 15% of its GDP is sold abroad, and the import quota exceeds 20%. The country's economy is characterized by intra-industry specialization with a wide development of detailed and complex technological specialization. Although there are no sharp regional contrasts in the level of development in the country, 10 economic regions are distinguished in it according to the degree of development of productive forces and industrial specialization, the features of the formation of the economy, the predominance of the existing territorial and production relations: South-East (metropolitan), West Midland, East Midland, Lancashire, Yorkshire, North East, North West, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland.

Industry. Characteristic of the post-war development of the British economy was the increase in the share of mechanical engineering in the sectoral structure of industry, the rapid development of its new and latest industries. The production of electrical equipment, computers is growing, instrumentation, aviation and aerospace industries are actively developing (it is the third largest in the world after the USA and France; it produces civil and military aircraft - British Aerospace, Harrier, Tornado, Eurofighter, C-King and Lynx helicopters) , Rolls-Royce aircraft engines and equipment for the European concern Airbus Industry). The share of knowledge-intensive industries is growing. The automotive industry is represented by national and foreign companies (Rover, Ford, including Jaguar, Vauxhall, Peugeout-Talbot, Honda, Nissan, Toyota). At the same time, there is a decrease in the share of old industries - shipbuilding and machine tool building, production of railway equipment, etc.

The chemical industry provides 11% of the total production. The most rapidly growing production of plastics, petrochemistry, synthetic materials. In terms of drug production, the UK ranks fourth in the world (Glaxo Wellcome, Smithkline Beecham, Zeneca).

There have been changes in the energy sector. Its development was strongly influenced by the discovery of its own oil and gas fields in the North Sea. The UK has one of the highest rates for industrialized countries in terms of energy production (12%). However, oil production in the North Sea is more expensive than in most other countries, and nuclear power has a rather modest place in the UK, producing only 20% of all electricity. In the energy sector, private companies such as British Petroleum, Royal Dutch/Shell, British Gas, British Oil, Enterprise Oil are gaining more and more influence.

The development of the oil, gas industry and nuclear energy led to a drop in the growth rate of the coal industry, despite its nationalization and reconstruction.

The development of modern UK industry is determined by high technology. Great Britain is one of the leading countries in the world scientific and technical progress, and in Europe the Great Britain has the greatest scientific and technical potential. Great Britain is the second country in the world after the USA in terms of the number of Nobel Prizes received by its scientists (over 70).

Lately Agriculture The UK has reduced its position in the production of GDP, but nevertheless it satisfies most of the country's food needs, is characterized by high productivity and intensity. At the same time, only Germany has a smaller share of agricultural production in GDP among developed countries. Great Britain is a classical land of agricultural capitalism. Its agrarian relations are characterized by the presence of three classes: hired agricultural workers, capitalists (farmers) and landowners (landlords). A significant part of the land is owned by landlords, who themselves do not engage in agricultural production, but lease the land.

One of the features of the development of agriculture in Great Britain is the growth in the concentration of agricultural capital, the increased penetration of monopolies into this industry, the merging of agricultural and industrial capital through vertical integration, which is accompanied by the emergence of large companies producing certain types of agricultural products. This is especially noticeable in the poultry industry. Grain farming is highly efficient: the average wheat yield is 60-74 q/ha.

The growth of agricultural production averages 3% per year. This is the largest increase among advanced economies. The level of mechanization in this sector of the UK economy is also high. However, extensive mechanization is available mainly to large farmers, who thus achieve a reduction in production costs, primarily by saving on labor.

Structural changes in the UK economy are associated with an increase in the importance of the non-manufacturing sector. Services sector gives 65% of GDP, it employs 71% of the workforce. Here it is worth highlighting tourism and finance, which create 25% of the UK's GDP. The financial sector employs about 4 million people (12% of the country's labor force). The leading role is played by banking, insurance, the market of derivative financial instruments (futures, options, global depositary receipts), the bond market (Eurobonds), the foreign exchange market (operations with Eurocurrencies), financial leasing, trust operations with foreign assets, operations with precious metals. The largest companies here are HSBS Holdings, Lloyds TSB Group, Barklays.

The leading world financial center is London, which has the most developed financial structure with the participation of not so much national as international capital. As the world's largest national financial center, London has been known since the era of the formation of capitalism and the beginning of colonial conquests. But as an actual international market, it developed only from the second decade of the 20th century, establishing itself in this role only at the end of the 1950s. Moreover, if it traditionally acted as a national financial center as a universal center with equally well-developed markets for short-term loans and long-term loans, a powerful exchange, a well-established insurance and freight business, etc., then it is distinguished as a global financial center mainly four markets: gold, currencies, short-term and medium-term credit, insurance. In addition to London, the major financial centers of the country are Manchester, Cardiff, Liverpool, Edinburgh. Britain's refusal from the processes of European monetary integration in the near future may lead to the loss of London's position in favor of Frankfurt.

Among English commercial banks, for many years the leading role was played by the mighty “Big Five” of London banks: Barclays Bank, Lloyds Bank, Midland Bank, National Bank, Westminster Bank. In 1968, there were mergers within the "big five" - the last two banks merged, which led to an even greater concentration of the country's banking power. Now the Big Four account for 92% of all deposits in UK commercial banks.

Tourism employs about 7% of the working population, and the annual income exceeds 8 billion dollars. London is one of the largest tourist centers in the world.

The UK has a developed transport infrastructure. The opening of the Eurotunnel under the English Channel made the connection between insular Britain and continental Europe even more stable.

Foreign economic relations. The place of Great Britain in the international division of labor has changed even in comparison with the middle of the century. Changes in the structure of the economy were accompanied by significant shifts in the structure of foreign economic relations. The predominant form of the country's participation in world trade is the sale on the foreign market and the import of manufactured products. In connection with the increase in the export of North Sea oil, the share of finished products and semi-finished products in commodity exports decreased in the 1970s and early 1980s, but by 1999 it reached 86%. In the same year, machinery and vehicles accounted for 48% of exports. The importance of products from the aerospace, chemical and electronic industries is growing in it, and at the same time, the share of textile goods is decreasing.

The involvement in the international circulation of electronic computers is very high, about 90% of the industry's products are exported abroad. More than 70% of the products of the chemical industry, more than half of the instrument-making products are exported. Among the branches of general engineering with a very high export orientation are tractor building, the production of textile and mining equipment. Great Britain occupies one of the first places in the world in terms of arms exports.

Shifts in the commodity structure of foreign trade were accompanied by changes in its geographical direction. By the end of the century, in 1999, 85% of exports and 82% of imports came from developed countries. In recent decades, there has been a "Europeanization" of the UK's foreign trade relations - a process that has especially intensified after its entry into the EU. In 1999, the share of Western Europe in British exports reached 63%, including the EU - almost 59%. The share of this region in imports was 54%.

Britain's foreign economic relations have a vast "economic periphery" abroad. Unlike other major European countries, the involvement of the UK in international production is much higher than in world trade: the share of British TNCs (in 2000, 146 of the 5,000 largest European firms by market capitalization) in foreign direct investment is about 2.5 times higher country's share in world trade.

Economic development

The UK is one of the seven world's economically developed countries. It has deposits of oil and gas produced in the North Sea, coal and limestone. The land area suitable for agriculture is 77% of the UK. The labor resources of the country unite highly qualified workers and prominent scientists. Over the past 20 years, such transformations have been carried out in the English economy "1) the public sector has been reduced (such giants of the English economy as British Telecom, British Coal were sold), tax rates have been reduced from individuals and legal entities; 3) economic deregulation has been carried out (with a simultaneous reduction government spending)

The extractive industries play an important role in UK industry. But it should be noted that with the simultaneous closure of mines, there is an increase in oil and gas production on the continental shelf of the North Sea. Oil production is carried out using the most advanced drilling technologies on drilling platforms. British Petroleum and the Anglo-Dutch company Royal Dutch/Shell are among the leaders in their market segment. In the manufacturing industry, the following sectors enjoy priority:

Transport engineering (12.4% of the total industrial

production), where the automotive industry stands out

(national companies and branches of foreign companies

Rover, Ford, Jaguar, Vauxhall, Pegeout-Talbot, Honda, Nissan,

Toyota), shipbuilding (including shipbuilding

equipment and construction of drilling platforms), aerospace

The medical industry is the third largest in the world after the USA and

France, producing civil and military aircraft

(British Aerospace, Harrier, Tornado, Euro fighter), helicopters "Si-

King and Linco, Rolls-Royce aircraft engines, equipment

for the European concern Airbus Industry;

Food industry (12.5% of total production

stva), including the production of the famous Scottish whisk

ki, gin and milk;

General engineering: agricultural production

natural machinery and machine tools, including the production of textiles

equipment (Great Britain - the seventh in the world

manufacturer in the world of machine tools);

Electronics and electrical engineering: computers (including

manufacturers such as IBM and Compaq); software obes

baking; processors and supercomputers; telecom facilities

communications (fiber optics, radars, etc.); medical

equipment; Appliances;

Chemical industry (11% of total

industry): pharmaceuticals (Great Britain - the fourth in the world

drug manufacturer) agrochemistry; perfumery; new ma

materials and biotechnologies;

Metal production (10.8% of total production);

Pulp and paper industry.

The development of modern UK industry

determined by the level of development of high technologies. Great Britain has the highest scientific and technical potential in Europe. Great Britain ranks second in the world after the United States in terms of the number of Nobel Prizes received by its scientists. The most important discoveries of the British are the structure of DNA, superconductivity, radio astrophysics, cloning, the ozone hole, and computed tomography. The global dominance of the UK in electronics and telecommunications (British Telecom alone carries out about a thousand research discoveries a year), chemistry (pharmaceuticals, new materials, biotechnologies), aerospace industry (Coneord aircraft, vertical take-off and landing aircraft, radars, tracking systems) is generally recognized. for air traffic)

Expenses for scientific research discoveries amount to over 2% of GDP per year, including over 35% of all research discoveries financed by the state. The construction industry in Great Britain has proven itself highly in the world. The world recognition of the high quality of British buildings is the fact that Eurodisneyland near Paris, the Olympic facilities in Atlanta, and the airport in Hong Kong were built by British firms.

The service sector is represented by industries such as finance and tourism. 25% of the country's GDP is generated by the financial services sector. It employs 12% of the country's labor reserves, and London is the world's financial center, the financial capital of the planet. Among financial services, it is worth highlighting banking (in addition to British banks, 50 largest banks in the world are represented in London), insurance, the market for derivative financial instruments (futures, options, global depositary receipts), the bond market (eurobonds), the foreign exchange market (transactions with eurocurrencies), financial leasing, trust transactions with foreign shares, transactions with precious metals. In addition to London, major financial centers are Manchester, Cardiff, Liverpool, Edinburgh. The second most important branch of the service sector is tourism, 7% of the working population is employed here, and the annual income exceeds $ 8 billion. London is the largest tourist center in the world.

The private sector, represented by British Petroleum, Shell, British Gas, British Oil, and Enterprise Oil, plays an important role in the country's energy sector.

Agriculture in the UK is highly commercial, while its share in the country's GDP is the smallest among developed countries, only Germany is smaller. The UK is half self-sufficient in food. The main agricultural crops are wheat, oats, sugar beets, barley, wheat. The country's livestock sector suffered significant damage due to an epidemic of spongiform encephalitis (“mad cow disease!”) That struck cattle. For safety reasons, one third of the cow population was destroyed

Great Britain, like all leading countries of the world, has a developed transport infrastructure. The opening of the Eurotunnel under the English Channel made the UK's connection with the continent even more stable. The success of the country in the development of civil aviation is indicative. British Airways is by far the largest airline in the world (if you count its share in foreign companies and English companies), and London Heathrow Airport is the largest aviation harbor in the world.

The largest ports of the country: Aberdeen, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Dover, Glasgow, Hull, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Plymouth, Peterhead, Scapa Flow, Southampton, Falmouth, Tees, Tyne. The UK merchant fleet consists of 155 ships (1998).

Exports consist of: manufactured goods, fuels, chemical products, foodstuffs.

Export geography: EU countries - 56% (Germany - 12%, France - 10%, the Netherlands - 8%), USA - 12%.

Imports consisted of: industrial goods, engineering products, food.

Import geography: EU countries - 53% (Germany - 14%, France - 10%, the Netherlands - 7%, Ireland - 5%), USA - 13%.

The monetary unit is the pound sterling (100 pence).