The UK, a leading trading power and financial center, is the third largest economy in Europe after Germany and France. Over the past two decades, the government has 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 less than 2% of the labor force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil resources, but its oil and natural gas reserves are declining and the UK became a net importer of energy in 2005. Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account by far for the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in importance. After emerging from recession in 1992, Britain's economy enjoyed the longest period of expansion on record during which time growth outpaced most of Western Europe. In 2008, however, the global financial crisis hit the economy particularly hard, due to the importance of its financial sector. Sharply declining home prices, high consumer debt, and the global economic slowdown compounded Britain's economic problems, pushing the economy into recession in the latter half of 2008 and prompting the then BROWN (Labour) government to implement a number of measures to stimulate the economy and stabilize the financial markets; these include nationalizing parts of the banking system, temporarily cutting taxes, suspending public sector borrowing rules, and moving forward public spending on capital projects. Facing burgeoning public deficits and debt levels, in 2010 the CAMERON-led coalition government (between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats) initiated a five-year austerity program, which aims to lower London's budget deficit from over 10% of GDP in 2010 to nearly 1% by 2015. In November 2011, Chancellor of the Exchequer George OSBORNE announced additional austerity measures through 2017 because of slower-than-expected economic growth and the impact of the euro-zone debt crisis. The CAMERON government raised the value added tax from 17.5% to 20% in 2011. It has pledged to reduce the corporation tax rate to 23% by 2015. The Bank of England (BoE) implemented an asset purchase program of up to £325 billion (approximately $525 billion) as of February 2011. During times of economic crisis, the BoE coordinates interest rate moves with the European Central Bank, but Britain remains outside the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

Data cover general government debt, and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intra-governmental debt; intra-governmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions.

$92.77 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$88.88 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$3.884 trillion (31 December 2011 est.)

$3.362 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)

$5.151 trillion (31 December 2009)

$4.436 trillion (31 December 2008)

$1.202 trillion (31 December 2011)

$3.107 trillion (31 December 2010)

$2.796 trillion (31 December 2009)

Cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry; fish

Machine tools, electric power equipment, automation equipment, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, other consumer goods

1.393 million bbl/day (2010 est.)

1.622 million bbl/day (2010 est.)

1.311 million bbl/day (2009 est.)

1.45 million bbl/day (2009 est.)

2.858 billion bbl (1 January 2011 est.)

256 billion cu m (1 January 2011 est.)

Manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco

Germany 11.6%, US 10.6%, Netherlands 8.4%, France 7.8%, Ireland 6.4%, Belgium 5.7% (2011)

Manufactured goods, machinery, fuels; foodstuffs

Germany 13.2%, China 8.7%, Netherlands 7.5%, US 6.1%, France 6%, Norway 5%, Belgium 5% (2011)

$94.54 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$82.41 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$1.13 trillion (31 December 2011 est.)

$1.076 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)

$1.773 trillion (31 December 2011 est.)

$1.675 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)

British pounds (GBP) per US dollar -