UNITED KINGDOM

1. Information about the country

a. Brief History
The history of the United Kingdom began in the early eighteenth century with the Treaty
of Union and Acts of Union. The core of the United Kingdom as a unified state came into being
in 1707 with the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, into a new unitary
state called Great Britain. The United Kingdom is an island nation located in the Atlantic Ocean
just off the coast of France. It is actually a union of four countries including England, Northern
Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The islands that are today the United Kingdom were invaded by
the Romans in 55 BC. This brought the local islanders into contact with the rest of Europe. After
the Roman Empire weakened, the islands were invaded by the Saxons, the Vikings, and finally
the Normans. The Tower Bridge the English conquered Wales in 1282 under Edward I. In order
to make the Welsh happy, the king's son was made the Prince of Wales. The two countries
became unified in 1536. Scotland became part of the British crown in 1602 when the king of
Scotland became the King James I of England. The union became official in 1707. Ireland
became a part of the union in 1801. However, many of the Irish rebelled and, in 1921, the
southern part of Ireland was made a separate country and an Irish free state. In the 1500s
Britain began to expand its empire into much of the world. After defeating the Spanish Armada
in 1588, England became the world's dominant sea power. Britain first grew into the Far East
and India and then to the Americas. In the early 1800s the UK defeated France in the
Napoleonic Wars and became the supreme European power. In the 1900s, the United Kingdom
became less of a dominant world power. It continued to lose control over colonies and was
weakened by World War I. However, under the leadership of Winston Churchill, the United
Kingdom was the last western European nation to oppose Germany in World War II and played
a major role in defeating Hitler. The United Kingdom played a major role in the history of the
world, taking a leading role in developing democracy and in advancing literature and science. At
its peak in the 19th century, the British Empire covered over one-fourth of the surface of the
earth.

b. Location Map
The United Kingdom is located in western Europe and consists of England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, The North Sea, and the Irish
Sea.
c. Economic history, including trade
The United Kingdom has a fiercely independent, developed, and international trading
economy that was at the forefront of the 19th-century Industrial Revolution. The country
emerged from World War II as a military victor but with a debilitated manufacturing sector.
Postwar recovery was relatively slow, and it took nearly 40 years, with additional stimulation
after 1973 from membership in the European Economic Community (ultimately succeeded by
the European Union [EU]), for the British economy to improve its competitiveness significantly.
Economic growth rates in the 1990s compared favorably with those of other top industrial
countries. Manufacturing’s contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) has declined to about
one-fifth of the total, with services providing the source of greatest growth. The United
Kingdom’s chief trading ties shifted from its former empire to other members of the EU, which
came to account for more than half its trade in tangible goods. The United States remained a
major investment and trading partner, and Japan also became a significant investor in local
production. American and Japanese companies have often chosen the United Kingdom as their
European base. In addition, other fast-developing East Asian countries with export-oriented
economies included the United Kingdom’s open market among their important outlets.
During the 1980s the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher pursued the
privatization, or denationalization, of publicly owned corporations that had been nationalized by
previous governments. Privatization, accompanied by widespread labor unrest, resulted in the
loss of tens of thousands of jobs in the coal-mining and heavy industrial sectors. Although there
was some improvement in the standard of living nationally, in general there was greater
prosperity in the South East, including London, than in the heavily industrialized regions of the
West Midlands, northern England, Clyde side, and Belfast, whose economies suffered during
the 1980s. During the 1980s and ’90s, income disparity also increased. Unemployment and
inflation rates were gradually reduced but remained high until the late 1990s. The country’s role
as a major world financial center remained a source of economic strength. Moreover, its
exploitation of offshore natural gas since 1967 and oil since 1975 in the North Sea has reduced
dependence on coal and imported oil and provided a further economic boost.
Trade of the United Kingdom
Trade has long been pivotal to the United Kingdom’s economy. The total value of
imports and exports represents nearly half the country’s GDP. (By comparison, the value of
foreign trade amounts to about one-fifth of the GDP of the United States.) The volume of both
the exports and the imports of the United Kingdom has grown steadily in recent years. Principal
British exports include machinery, automobiles and other transport equipment, electrical and
electronic equipment (including computers), chemicals, and oil. Services, particularly financial
services, are another major export and contribute positively to Britain’s trade balance. The
country imports about one-tenth of its foodstuffs and about one-third of its machinery and
transport equipment.
 An increasing share of the United Kingdom’s trade is with other developed countries.
Joining the European Economic Community caused a major reorientation of trade flows. At the
beginning of the 21st century, about half of all trade was with the United Kingdom’s partners in
the European Union, although the United States remained the United Kingdom’s single largest
export market and a major supplier. Germany was the leading supplier and the second most
important export market. Whether the United Kingdom’s trading partners would change
dramatically as a result of Brexit (Britain’s exit from the European Union) remained an open
question, as the country entered a period of economic transition in 2020.

The United Kingdom’s current overall balance of payments (including trade in services
and transfer payments), which historically had been generally favorable, fell into deficit from the
mid-1980s until the late 1990s because visible imports (i.e., tangible goods imported) exceeded
visible exports. Meanwhile there was considerable overseas investment, and foreign earnings
grew. The government has supported trade liberalization and participated in international trade
organizations. By the late 1990s the steady growth in exports of goods and services and in
foreign earnings had produced the first balance-of-payments surplus in more than a decade.
d. Top 10 Exports and Top 10 Imports (for year 2019 or 2020)
EXPORTS
Technically named the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the UK
shipped US$401.9 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2020. That dollar amount reflects a
-2.3% decrease since 2016 and a -14.2% drop from one year earlier in 2019.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2020, the British pound depreciated by -5.3%
against the US dollar since 2016 and increased by 0.4% from 2019 to 2020. The UK’s stronger
local currency in 2020 make British exports paid for in slightly weaker US dollars relatively less
expensive for international buyers.
The latest available country-specific data shows that 68.4% of products exported from
UK were bought by importers in: The United States (14.8% of the global total), Germany
(10.5%), Ireland (7.1%), Netherlands (6.4%), France (6.1%), Switzerland (5%), China (4.8%),
Belgium (3.5%), Spain (2.8%), Italy (2.8%), Hong Kong (2.7%) and Canada (1.9%).
From a continental perspective, 54.1% of exports by value from the United Kingdom
were delivered to fellow European countries compared to 46.1% for European Union members.
In addition, 21.2% were sold to Asian importers. United Kingdom shipped another 16.5% worth
of goods to North America. Smaller percentages went to Africa (2.1%), Oceania led by Australia
and New Zealand (1.5%) then Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean
(1.3%).
 Given United Kingdom’s population of 67.3 million people, its total $401.9 billion in 2020
exported products translates to roughly $6,000 for every resident in the western European
economic powerhouse.
The following export product groups categorize the highest dollar value in UK global shipments
during 2020. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of
overall exports from Great Britain.
1. Machinery including computers: US$60.4 billion (15% of total exports)
2. Gems, precious metals: $43.3 billion (10.8%)
3. Vehicles: $36.4 billion (9.1%)
4. Mineral fuels including oil: $26.4 billion (6.6%)
5. Electrical machinery, equipment: $25 billion (6.2%)
6. Pharmaceuticals: $24.8 billion (6.2%)
7. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $17.6 billion (4.4%)
8. Aircraft, spacecraft: $13.2 billion (3.3%)
9. Organic chemicals: $12.1 billion (3%)
10. Plastics, plastic articles: $10.6 billion (2.6%)
The United Kingdom’s top 10 exports accounted for roughly two-thirds (67.1%) of the
overall value of its global shipments.
Gems and precious metals were the lone grower among the top 10 export categories, up
by 1.7% since 2019.
The leading decliner among United Kingdom’s top 10 export categories were mineral
fuels including oil which fell -35.5% year over year, weighed down by lower international sales
from both crude and processed petroleum oils. Other major decreases belong to aircraft and
spacecraft (down -28.2%) and vehicles (down -27.9%) exported from the UK.

IMPORTS
The United Kingdom imported US$631.9 billion worth of goods from around the globe in
2020. That metric reflects a -0.7% decrease since 2016 and a -8.8% downtick from 2019 to
2020.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2020, the British pound depreciated by -5.3%
against the US dollar since 2016 but increased by 0.4% from 2019 to 2020. The UK’s stronger
local currency in 2020 make its imports paid for in slightly weaker US dollars relatively less
expensive when converted starting from the British pound.
UK’s imports represent 3.3% of total global imports which totaled an estimated $19.085
trillion one year earlier during 2019.
 From a continental perspective, over half (53.7%) of United Kingdom’s total imports by
value in 2020 were purchased from fellow European countries (compared to 47.2% from
European Union members). Asian trade partners supplied 26.1% of import purchases by the
United Kingdom while 12.1% originated from North America. Smaller percentages came from
Africa (2.1%), Oceania (1.8%) led by Australia and New Zealand then Latin America (1.2%)
including the Caribbean but excluding Mexico.
Given the United Kingdom’s population of 67.3 million people, its total $631.9 billion in
2020 imports translates to roughly $9,400 in yearly product demand from every person living in
the United Kingdom.
The following product groups represent the highest dollar value in the United Kingdom’s
import purchases during 2020 at the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level. Also shown
is the percentage share each product category represents in terms of overall imports into the
United Kingdom.
1. Gems, precious metals: US$108.4 billion (17.2% of total imports)
2. Machinery including computers: $70.2 billion (11.1%)
3. Vehicles: $58 billion (9.2%)
4. Electrical machinery, equipment: $55.8 billion (8.8%)
5. Mineral fuels including oil: $34 billion (5.4%)
6. Pharmaceuticals: $25.9 billion (4.1%)
7. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $18.9 billion (3%)
8. Plastics, plastic articles: $18.1 billion (2.9%)
9. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $11.8 billion (1.9%)
10. Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $11.1 billion (1.7%)
The United Kingdom’s top 10 imports accounted for roughly two-thirds (65.2%) of the
overall value of its product purchases from all countries.
The gems and precious metals category posted the sole increase from 2019 to 2020, up
by 21.6% notably for gold and platinum.
Leading the decliners was the mineral fuels including oil category via its -39.7% decline
year over year. Other major imports that declined greatly year over year were UK imports of
vehicles (down -22.5%) and machinery including computers (down -16.6%).
e. Cultural Background of the Population
DEMOGRAPHY
The population is approximately 55 million: 46 million in England, 5 million in Scotland,
2.5 million in Wales, and 1.5 million in Northern Ireland.
The nation's cultural diversity has been increased by migration within the British Isles
and by immigration from Europe and overseas. Until 1920, Ireland was incorporated within the
United Kingdom. Movement across the Irish Sea had existed since the eighteenth century, even
among Ireland's poorest people. In the nineteenth century, there was a regular pattern of
seasonal migration of farm workers from Ireland to Britain. Irishmen volunteered for the Royal
Navy and British Army regiments in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and saw service in
all parts of the empire. A wide variety of other Irish people spent periods in Britain, which had a
more highly developed economy than Ireland. From 1841 onward, the censuses of Scotland,
England, and Wales have enumerated Irish-born people in every part of the country. Similarly,
Scottish and Welsh people have settled in England. Most British people have ancestries that are
mixtures of the four nationalities of the British Isles.
Before and after World War II, political and religious refugees and displaced persons
from the Baltic countries, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary were offered shelter in Britain
and remained, along with some prisoners of war. Other immigrants of European ancestry who
were born in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and South and East Africa, along with Greek and
Turkish Cypriots, also settled in Britain. After the late 1940s, many of non-European overseas
immigrants arrived, predominantly from the colonies, including people of Indian and African
ancestry from the West Indies and Guyana; people from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh; and
Chinese from Hong Kong and Singapore. The 1991 census, the first to include ethnic
background, enumerated three million Britons of non-European birth or ancestry.
PEOPLE AND CULTURE
The UK has a very multicultural society and is very open to new religions and cultures.
While also keeping long-held traditions like maintaining a royal party, the UK has changed
greatly and has become much more cosmopolitan and multicultural. The UK is seen as a
destination of great diversity with London being the hub for many international students.
RELIGION
The main religion in the UK is Christianity which makes up about 50 percent of the
religious population, largely split between the Church of England and Catholicism.
In addition to Christianity, the UK has large numbers of practicing members of other
major world religions, as follows:

 Christian: 50.7%
 Muslim: 2.5%
 Hindu: 0.7%
 Jewish: 0.6%
 Sikh: 0.3%
 Buddhist: 0.6%
 Other non-Christian: 1.5%
LANGUAGE
Regional and cultural relationships are expressed in marked linguistic differences.
Although the language has been modified by a gradual convergence toward "estuary English" a
less formal variety of southeastern speech, and educational and socioeconomic factors, it is
possible to determine people's geographical origins by the way they speak. In some areas,
there are significant differences in speech patterns from one city or county to its neighbor.
These differences are associated with loyalties to one's place of birth or residence and for many
people are important aspects of self-identity; non-English native languages are little spoken but
in recent years have gained significance as cultural and political symbols. These languages
include Scots Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish, and Irish (commonly referred to as the Celtic languages);
there is also the Old Norse language of the Northern Isles (Orkney and especially Shetland) and
the Norman French patois of the Channel Islands. In Wales, 80 percent of the people speak
English as their first or only language and those who speak Welsh as their first language are
bilingual. In Scotland, Gaelic is not a national symbol because it was never spoken in some
parts of that country. People in the Northern Isles are bilingual in English and an unwritten
creolized form of Old Norse; in the Channel Islands, the Norman French patois is nearly extinct;
and in Cornwall, there are no natural speakers of Cornish, although the language has been
reconstructed. In Northern Ireland, the Irish language has been reintroduced as a means of
revitalizing Celtic pride among Belfast Catholics.
SYMBOLISM
Symbolic attachment may reinforce localism or take the form of personal commitments
that extend across socioeconomic strata. Support for soccer and rugby teams became
significant during the twentieth century, and teams now command fierce local loyalties as sport
has come to symbolize male pride and self-image in a society where mining and manufacturing
have declined. Forms of personal commitment that transcend locality include vegetarianism and
environmentalism: the first is predominantly middle class and female, and the second is
identified less with gender and socioeconomic status. On the fringes of society, especially
among the young, there has been a significant growth in new religious movements, which
include radical environmentalist cults, New Age paganism, anarchism, anticapitalism and
antinuclear groups, and adopted Far Eastern and South Asian religions and belief systems,
including martial arts cults. Cults based on popular music and performers engender personal
commitment in culturally patterned ways
f. Current Economic Structure
As well as having serious implications for people’s health and the NHS, the coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic continues to have a significant impact on businesses and the economy.
As the situation develops, we’re updating our analysis of the UK economic impact regularly to
help you with your response and planning. New and updated insights will be available on a
regular basis.
The UK economy grew by 1% in the fourth quarter of 2020. The November monthly GDP
estimate surprised to the upside, with a monthly growth of -2.3% compared to consensus
projections of -5%. Monthly growth in December stood at 1.2%, despite the local tiered system
keeping much of the country in lockdown. This reflects how business and people are continuing
to adapt to restrictions.
However, there is still some way to go before recovery. The UK economy remains 8.6%
smaller than its size at the end of 2019, which is equivalent to every person in the UK being
roughly £3,000 worse off than they were in 2019 on a net basis.
The labor market remains under pressure, but there continue to be some tentative
positive signs. In the three months to December, redundancies set a new record high yet again -
reaching a peak of 395,000. In addition, since February 2020, the number of payroll employees
has now fallen by 827,000. These figures reflect the tightening of restrictions in Q4. However,
there were some preliminary positive signs as well. Despite the tightening of restrictions,
economic inactivity has stabilized, while vacancies and total hours worked continued to
gradually recover over the quarter.
g. Current Political Structure
The United Kingdom is a unitary state with devolution that is governed within the
framework of a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy in which the
monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II, is the head of state while the Prime Minister of the
United Kingdom, currently Boris Johnson, is the head of government. Executive power is
exercised by the British government, on behalf of and by the consent of the monarch, and the
devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Legislative power is vested in
the two chambers of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the House of Commons and the
House of Lords, as well as in the Scottish and Welsh parliaments and the Northern Ireland
Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The highest court is
the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
The British political system is a two-party system. Since the 1920s, the two dominant
parties have been the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. Before the Labour Party rose in
British politics, the Liberal Party was the other major political party, along with the
Conservatives. While coalition and minority governments have been an occasional feature of
parliamentary politics, the first-past-the-post electoral system used for general elections tends to
maintain the dominance of these two parties, though each has in the past century relied upon a
third party, such as the Liberal Democrats, to deliver a working majority in Parliament. A
Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government held office from 2010 until 2015, the first
coalition since 1945. The coalition ended following parliamentary elections on 7 May 2015, in
which the Conservative Party won an outright majority of 330 seats in the House of Commons,
while their coalition partners lost all but eight seats.
With the partition of Ireland, Northern Ireland received home rule in 1920, though civil
unrest meant direct rule was restored in 1972. Support for nationalist parties in Scotland and
Wales led to proposals for devolution in the 1970s, though only in the 1990s did devolution
happen. Today, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each possess a legislature and
executive, with devolution in Northern Ireland being conditional on participation in certain all-
Ireland institutions. The British government remains responsible for non-devolved matters and,
in the case of Northern Ireland, co-operates with the government of the Republic of Ireland.
Devolution of executive and legislative powers may have contributed to increased
support for independence in the constituent parts of the United Kingdom. The principal Scottish
pro-independence party, the Scottish National Party, became a minority government in 2007
and then went on to win an overall majority of MSPs at the 2011 Scottish parliament elections
and forms the current Scottish Government administration. In a 2014 referendum on
independence 44.7% of voters voted for independence versus 55.3% against. In Northern
Ireland, Irish nationalist parties such as Sinn Féin advocate Irish reunification.
The constitution of the United Kingdom is uncodified, being made up of constitutional
conventions, statutes and other elements. This system of government, known as the
Westminster system, has been adopted by other countries, especially those that were formerly
parts of the British Empire.
The United Kingdom is also responsible for several dependencies, which fall into two
categories: The Crown dependencies, in the immediate vicinity of the UK, and British Overseas
Territories, which originated as colonies of the British Empire.