Economy

Imports
$747 billion (2022). Petroleum Gas ($57B), Cars ($40.3B), Crude Petroleum ($38.7B), Gold ($38.7B), and Refined Petroleum ($24.9B), importing mostly from China ($92.5B), Germany ($76.2B), United States ($75.4B), Norway ($59.1B), and Netherlands ($38.2B).
In 2022, United Kingdom was the world’s biggest importer of Preserved Meat ($858M), Tissue ($561M), Asphalt Mixtures ($388M), Ceramic Bricks ($308M), and Other Vegetable Residues and Waste ($158M).

Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of  age)
• 99.8% have an account with a financial institution
• 62.1% have a credit card
• 81% make online purchases

Ease of doing business
It is very easy to conduct business (rated 83.5 out of 100) ranked 5th out of 34 OECD high income countries and ranked 8th out of 190 countries worldwide (2023, World Bank).

Exports
$469 billion (2022). Gold ($32.1B), Cars ($29.4B), Gas Turbines ($29.2B), Crude Petroleum ($26.3B), and Packaged Medicaments ($20.3B), exporting mostly to United States ($61.8B), Netherlands ($41.9B), Germany ($40.6B), China ($35.4B), and Ireland ($32.6B).
In 2022, United Kingdom was the world’s biggest exporter of Hard Liquor ($9.58B), Horses ($643M), Collector’s Items ($452M), Scrap Nickel ($218M), and Scrap Lead ($89.3M)

Main local online stores
Amazon, Cdiscount.com and Fnac. Other top retail sites include eBay, Carrefour, Rakuten, Google Shopping, Leroy Merlin, La Redoute and Apple sites.

Economic freedom
‘Moderately free’ (rated 68.6 out of 100) ranked 17th out of 44 European countries and ranked 30th out of 176 countries worldwide (2024, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal).

Global Innovation Index
Ranked 3rd out of 39 European countries, 4th out of 132 worldwide.

The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.

Source: ecommerceDB.com

Source: Attest

Media

Media language:  English

Information channels:
The UK has a strong tradition of public service broadcasting and an international reputation for creative programme-making. The fledgling BBC began daily radio broadcasts in 1922 and quickly came to play a pivotal role in national life. The Empire Service – the forerunner of the BBC World Service – established a worldwide reputation. The BBC is funded by a licence fee, which all households with a TV set must pay. Commercial TV began in 1955 with the launch of ITV. Commercial radio arrived in the 1970s, although ship-based stations flourished in the 1960s before being outlawed. Hundreds of privately-owned radio and TV stations now compete with the BBC for listeners and viewers. Home-grown soaps top the TV ratings, and many British viewers follow the ups and downs of life in East London’s Albert Square, the setting for the BBC’s EastEnders and Coronation Street – ITV’s soap about northern English working-class life. Reality TV shows attract large audiences. Once-dominant terrestrial TV networks face strong competition from digital satellite and cable, which offer hundreds of channels and digital terrestrial TV (DTT), which carries a smaller number of mainly free-to-air channels. Terrestrial digital radio (DAB) has had a slower start. The media are free and able to report on all aspects of British life. The variety of publications reflects the full spectrum of political opinion. In recent years, printed newspaper circulations have been sliding while online readership has surged. News Corp, owner of The Times through its News UK subsidiary, has spearheaded attempts to make money from online content by charging readers for access.

Press Regulation

In 2012, a judge-led inquiry recommended a new system of self-regulation for the press, backed by legislation. The inquiry followed a phone-hacking scandal at a News Corp title. Politicians agreed to set up a new watchdog with powers to impose heavy fines and force newspapers to publish corrections. In 2013, the system was backed by a Royal Charter, rather than by law. But the industry objected and said the Royal Charter plan would give politicians too much power. Most publishers have stayed outside the system.

The press

The Daily Telegraph – daily
Financial Times – daily, business
The Guardian – daily
The Independent – online, former print daily
The Times – daily
The Sun – daily tabloid
The Mirror – daily tabloid
The Daily Mail – daily tabloid
The Daily Express – daily tabloid
The Scotsman – Scottish daily
Western Mail – Welsh daily

Television

BBC TV – operates BBC1, BBC2 and digital services including BBC News channel
BBC World News – commercially-funded international news channel
ITV – major commercial network, organised around regional franchises
Channel 4 – commercially funded but publicly owned national station
Channel 5 – national commercial channel
Independent Television News (ITN) – supplier of news to ITV, Channel 4 and other outlets
Sky – operator of the Sky digital satellite platform and provider of films, entertainment channels and Sky News

Radio

BBC Radio – national services include contemporary music station Radio 1, adult music station Radio 2, cultural network Radio 3, flagship speech station Radio 4 and news and sport station Five Live
BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio nan Gaidheal – Gaelic-language station for Scotland
BBC Radio Ulster – for Northern Ireland
BBC Radio Wales
BBC Radio Cymru – Welsh-language
BBC Asian Network – for Asian communities in the UK
BBC World Service – major international broadcaster, heard worldwide via shortwave and on FM relays, programmes in more than 40 languages
LBC – commercial, news and talk
Absolute Radio – commercial, pop and rock
talkSPORT – commercial, sports
Classic FM – commercial, classical

News agency

The Press Association

Internet Data

Internet users
97.8% penetration, 66.33 million

Share of web traffic by device
47.17% mobile phones, 48.62% computers (laptops and desktops), 4.10% tablet devices, others 0.11%.

Median speed of mobile Internet connection
48.43 Mbps

Average speed of fixed Internet connection
92.10 Mbps

Mobile connection as a percentage of total population: 131%

Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 99.3%

Most popular web search engines
Google (93.97%), Bing (3.7%), Yahoo! (1.29%), DuckDuckGo (0.55%), Ecosia (0.22%), other (0.27%).

Most used social media
Facebook (60.32%), Instagram (13.68%), Twitter (12.44%), Pinterest (6.41%), YouTube (2.57%), Reddit (2.26%), LinkedIn (1.75%), other (0.56%).

Social statistics

Life expectancy
82 yrs (2022)

Current health expenditure
11.34% of GDP (2022)

Current education expenditure
97.7% of total expenditure in public institutions

Graduates (tertiary education)
In the United Kingdom, the average employment rate among tertiary-educated adults is 5 percentage points higher than among those with only an upper secondary or postsecondary non tertiary qualification. Nearly one-quarter of 25-64 year-olds (23%) have a bachelor’s degree, which is 5 percentage points above the OECD average. The proportion of adults with a master’s or doctoral degree is similar to the OECD average. (2019)

Cultural Curiosities
In the UK, humor, also referred to as banter, tends to be particularly sharp and sometimes a little over the line – it’s important not to take offense. 

Be careful when crossing the street or driving in the UK, since it’s one of those countries where people drive on the left side of the road. Never stand on the left side of an escalator when using the metro unless you’re walking faster than others – the left side is for people who are in a rush.

Religion
The UK is very tolerant in terms of religion. The majority exist in relative harmony. 

Gender
Gender equality is quite well established in the UK, though in some contexts women are still paid less (e.g. Wimbledon tennis champions) or excluded altogether (some conservative clubs). This is an issue that is challenged on a regular basis and can be discussed openly.

Class
Many would like to believe that this does not exist in the UK. Class does not necessarily go hand in hand with money; it has a lot to do with families and schooling etc. As a rule, it is not an issue in the workplace.

Ethnicity
On the whole, ethnicity is less of a social issue than it was 10 years ago. Racial incidents still do occur occasionally, but they are isolated.

Corruption perceptions Index
United Kingdom scored 73 out of 100, ranked 18th out 180 countries worldwide.

CO2 emissions
4.6 metric tons per capita

World Happiness Index
United Kingdom ranked 17 out of 137 countries, with a score of 6.943.