Greenwich looking towards Canary Wharf, part of London's central business district, one of the major financial centres of the world

The economy of the United Kingdom is a highly developed social market economy. It is the sixth-largest national economy in the world measured by nominal gross domestic product (GDP), tenth-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP), and twentieth by nominal GDP per capita, constituting 3.1% of nominal world GDP. The United Kingdom constituted 2.17% of world GDP by purchasing power parity (PPP) in 2024 estimates.

The United Kingdom has one of the most globalised economies and comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In 2022, the United Kingdom was the fifth-largest exporter in the world and the fourth-largest importer. It also had the fourth-largest outward foreign direct investment, and the fifteenth-largest inward foreign direct investment. In 2022, the United Kingdom's trade with the European Union accounted for 42% of the country's exports and 48% of its imports. The United Kingdom has a highly efficient and strong social security system, which comprises roughly 24.5% of GDP. (Full article...)