The UK is now well on its way out of the recession and offers great opportunities for growth, both in specific areas of production and the services sector.
Key Facts and Figures
The UK has a population of 63 million, which is predicted by the World Bank to increase to 71 million by 2050. Meanwhile, the population of Germany is predicted to fall from 80 million to 67 million. If this proves correct, by 2050 the UK will be the EU’s largest economy.
Furthermore, although GDP grew by just 1.7 percent in 2013, the World Bank predicts an increase equating to an annual average growth of 2.6 percent over the next ten years.
Inflation in the UK is quite low at 2.6 percent (CPI, 2013), and unemployment is at about 7 percent of the active workforce.
Soon they’ll have the largest EU population to preside over
UK in World Trade
The UK’s top five export commodities are: mineral fuels (17 percent), mechanical appliances (11 percent), motor vehicles (9 percent), pharmaceuticals (8 percent) and electronic equipment (7 percent).
The top import commodities include motor vehicles (19 percent), mechanical appliances (12 percent), pharmaceuticals (8 percent), electronic equipment (8 percent) and plastics (4 percent) (ONS, 2014).
If you look at these figures in the light of present British debate about EU membership, the official figures tell an interesting story.
The United Kingdom’s top three export markets are 49.2 percent to other EU countries (the top three being Germany, the Netherlands and France), 13.7 percent to the US and 3.5 percent to China. Britain’s top three import markets are 49.7 percent from other EU countries, 7.7 percent from China and 7.3 percent from the US (ONS, 2013).
Opportunities and Risk
Contact the BCCD if you wish to know which sectors are the fastest UK growth markets in 2014 and the expectations over the next five years.
In recognition of these growth opportunities for Danish companies in the UK, the BCCD will be hosting an SME conference in Aarhus on 5 March 2015.
