mailing address:
PSC 801, Box 40, FPO AE 09498-4040
telephone:
[44] (71) 499-9000
FAX:
[44] (71) 409-1637
consulates general:
Belfast and Edinburgh
Flag:
blue with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in
white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint
of Ireland) which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of Saint
Andrew (patron saint of Scotland); known as the Union Flag or Union Jack;
the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a
number of other flags including dependencies, Commonwealth countries, and
others
*United Kingdom, Economy
Overview:
The UK is one of the world's great trading powers and financial centers, and
its economy ranks among the four largest in Europe. The economy is
essentially capitalistic; over the past thirteen years the ruling Tories
have 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 only 1% of the
labor force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves, and
primary energy production accounts for 12% of GDP, one of the highest shares
of any industrial nation. Services, particularly banking, insurance, and
business services, account by far for the largest proportion of GDP while
industry continues to decline in importance, now employing only 25% of the
work force and generating 21% of GDP. The economy is emerging out of its
3-year recession with only weak recovery expected in 1993. Unemployment is
hovering around 10% of the labor force. The government in 1992 adopted a
pro-growth strategy, cutting interest rates sharply and removing the pound
from the European exchange rate mechanism. Excess industrial capacity
probably will moderate inflation which for the first time in a decade is
below the EC average. The major economic policy question for Britain in the
1990s is the terms on which it participates in the financial and economic
integration of Europe.
National product:
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $920.6 billion (1992)
National product real growth rate:
-0.6% (1992)
National product per capita:
$15,900 (1992)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.6% (1992)
Unemployment rate:
9.8% (1992)
Budget:
revenues $367.6 billion; expenditures $439.3 billion, including capital
expenditures of $32.5 billion (FY92 est.)
Exports:
$187.4 billion (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities:
manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods,
transport equipment
partners:
EC countries 56.7% (Germany 14.0%, France 11.1%, Netherlands 7.9%), US 10.9%
Imports:
$210.7 billion (c.i.f., 1992)
commodities:
manufactured goods, machinery, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer
goods
partners:
EC countries 51.7% (Germany 14.9%, France 9.3%, Netherlands 8.4%), US 11.6%
External debt:
$16.2 billion (June 1992)
Industrial production:
growth rate 0.4% (1992 est.)
Electricity:
99,000,000 kW capacity; 317,000 million kWh produced, 5,480 kWh per capita
(1992)
*United Kingdom, Economy
Industries:
production machinery including machine tools, electric power equipment,
equipment for the automation of production, railroad equipment,
shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and
communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and
paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, and other consumer
goods
Agriculture:
accounts for only 1.5% of GDP and 1% of labor force; highly mechanized and
efficient farms; wide variety of crops and livestock products produced;
about 60% self-sufficient in food and feed needs; fish catch of 665,000
metric tons (1987)
Illicit drugs:
increasingly important gateway country for Latin American cocaine entering
the European market
Economic aid:
donor - ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $21.0 billion
Currency:
1 British pound (#) = 100 pence
Exchange rates:
British pounds (#) per US$1 - 0.6527 (January 1993), 0.5664 (1992), 0.5652
(1991), 0.5603 (1990), 0.6099 (1989), 0.5614 (1988)
Fiscal year:
1 April-31 March
*United Kingdom, Communications
Railroads:
UK, 16,914 km total; Great Britain's British Railways (BR) operates 16,584
km 1.435-meter (standard) gauge (including 4,545 km electrified and 12,591
km double or multiple track), several additional small standard-gauge and
narrow-gauge lines are privately owned and operated; Northern Ireland
Railways (NIR) operates 330 km 1.600-meter gauge (including 190 km double
track)
Highways:
UK, 362,982 km total; Great Britain, 339,483 km paved (including 2,573 km
limited-access divided highway); Northern Ireland, 23,499 km (22,907 paved,
592 km gravel)
Inland waterways:
2,291 total; British Waterways Board, 606 km; Port Authorities, 706 km;
other, 979 km
Pipelines:
crude oil (almost all insignificant) 933 km, petroleum products 2,993 km,
natural gas 12,800 km
Ports:
London, Liverpool, Felixstowe, Tees and Hartlepool, Dover, Sullom Voe,
Southampton
Merchant marine: 204 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,819,719 GRT/4,941,785 DWT; includes
7 passenger, 16 short-sea passenger, 37 cargo, 25 container, 14
roll-on/roll-off, 5 refrigerated cargo, 1 vehicle carrier, 65 oil tanker, 1
chemical tanker, 8 liquefied gas, 1 specialized tanker, 22 bulk, 1
combination bulk, 1 passenger cargo
Airports:
total:
496
usable:
385
with permanent-surface runways:
249
with runways over 3,659 m:
1
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
37
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
134
Telecommunications:
technologically advanced domestic and international system; 30,200,000
telephones; equal mix of buried cables, microwave and optical-fiber systems;
excellent countrywide broadcast systems; broadcast stations - 225 AM, 525
(mostly repeaters) FM, 207 (3,210 repeaters) TV; 40 coaxial submarine
cables; 5 satellite ground stations operating in INTELSAT (7 Atlantic Ocean
and 3 Indian Ocean), INMARSAT, and EUTELSAT systems; at least 8 large
international switching centers
*United Kingdom, Defense Forces
Branches:
Army, Royal Navy (including Royal Marines), Royal Air Force
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 14,445,998; fit for military service 12,084,913 (1993 est.);
no conscription
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $42.5 billion, 3.8% of GDP (FY92/93)
*United States, Geography