The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was born of the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, which previously had been distinct states joined in a personal union, under the 1701 Acts of Union. The island of Ireland, also joined via a personal union, was incorporated under the 1800 Acts of Union, while Wales had been part of the Kingdom of England since the 16th century. The United Kingdom has historically played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. The 18th and 19th centuries saw the rapid expansion of the British Empire despite the loss of the Thirteen Colonies, and at its zenith in the early 20th century, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth’s surface. The first half of the 20th century saw two World Wars seriously deplete the UK’s strength and the Irish Republic withdraw from the union. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council and a founding member of NATO and the Commonwealth of Nations, the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy. The devolved Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in 1998.The UK was an active member of the EU after its accession in 1973, although it chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union. However, motivated in part by frustration at a remote bureaucracy in Brussels and massive migration into the country, UK citizens on 23 June 2016 voted by 52 to 48 percent to leave the EU. The UK became the only country to depart the EU on 31 January 2020, after prolonged negotiations on EU-UK economic and security relationships had been hammered out.
land: 241,930 sq km
water: 1,680 sq km
note 1: the percentage area breakdown of the four UK countries is: England 53%, Scotland 32%, Wales 9%, and Northern Ireland 6%
note 2: includes Rockall and the Shetland Islands, which are part of Scotland
border countries (1): Ireland 499 km
continental shelf: as defined in continental shelf orders or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
lowest point: The Fens -4 m
mean elevation: 162 m
arable land: 25.1% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 0.2% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 45.7% (2018 est.)
forest: 11.9% (2018 est.)
other: 17.1% (2018 est.)
68,138,484 (2023 est.) United Kingdom
constituent countries by percentage of total population:
England 84.3%
Scotland 8.2%
Wales 4.6%
Northern Ireland 2.8%
noun: Briton(s), British (collective plural)
adjective: British
White 87.2%, Black/African/Caribbean/black British 3%, Asian/Asian British: Indian 2.3%, Asian/Asian British: Pakistani 1.9%, mixed 2%, other 3.7% (2011 est.)
English
note: the following are recognized regional languages: Scots (about 30% of the population of Scotland), Scottish Gaelic (about 60,000 speakers in Scotland), Welsh (about 20% of the population of Wales), Irish (about 10% of the population of Northern Ireland), Cornish (some 2,000 to 3,000 people in Cornwall) (2012 est.)
Christian (includes Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 59.5%, Muslim 4.4%, Hindu 1.3%, other 2%, unspecified 7.2%, none 25.7% (2011 est.)
0-14 years: 16.91% (male 5,901,611/female 5,620,070)
15-64 years: 64.03% (male 21,997,962/female 21,628,742)
65 years and over: 19.06% (2023 est.) (male 5,953,187/female 7,036,912)
total dependency ratio: 57.7
youth dependency ratio: 27.8
elderly dependency ratio: 29.8
potential support ratio: 3.4 (2021 est.)
total: 40.6 years (2023 est.)
male: 39.9 years
female: 41.4 years
0.49% (2023 est.)
10.8 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
9.1 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
3.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
the core of the population lies in and around London, with significant clusters found in central Britain around Manchester and Liverpool, in the Scottish lowlands between Edinburgh and Glasgow, southern Wales in and around Cardiff, and far eastern Northern Ireland centered on Belfast
urban population: 84.6% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 0.8% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
9.648 million LONDON (capital), 2.791 million Manchester, 2.665 million Birmingham, 1.929 million West Yorkshire, 1.698 million Glasgow, 952,000 Southampton/Portsmouth (2023)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
29 years (2018 est.)
note: data represents England and Wales only
10 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
total: 3.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
male: 4.3 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 3.3 deaths/1,000 live births
total population: 82.1 years (2023 est.)
male: 80 years
female: 84.2 years
1.63 children born/woman (2023 est.)
0.79 (2023 est.)
76.1% (2010/12)
note: percent of women aged 16-49
improved: urban: 100% of population
rural: 100% of population
total: 100% of population
unimproved: urban: 0% of population
rural: 0% of population
total: 0% of population (2020 est.)
12% of GDP (2020)
3 physicians/1,000 population (2020)
2.5 beds/1,000 population (2019)
improved: urban: 99.8% of population
rural: 99.8% of population
total: 99.8% of population
unimproved: urban: 0.2% of population
rural: 0.2% of population
total: 0.2% of population (2020 est.)
note: on 31 August 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an updated Travel Alert for polio in Europe; the United Kingdom is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, the CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine
27.8% (2016)
total: 9.8 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 3.53 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 3.3 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 2.35 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0.61 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total: 15.4% (2020 est.)
male: 17.3% (2020 est.)
female: 13.5% (2020 est.)
NA
50.7% (2023 est.)
women married by age 18: 0.1% (2020 est.)
5.5% of GDP (2020 est.)
total population: NA
male: NA
female: NA
total: 17 years
male: 17 years
female: 18 years (2020)
air pollution improved but remains a concern, particularly in the London region; soil pollution from pesticides and heavy metals; decline in marine and coastal habitats brought on by pressures from housing, tourism, and industry
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast
agricultural land: 71% (2018 est.)
arable land: 25.1% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 0.2% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 45.7% (2018 est.)
forest: 11.9% (2018 est.)
other: 17.1% (2018 est.)
urban population: 84.6% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 0.8% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
0.01% of GDP (2018 est.)
0% of GDP (2018 est.)
particulate matter emissions: 9.52 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
carbon dioxide emissions: 379.02 megatons (2016 est.)
methane emissions: 49.16 megatons (2020 est.)
municipal solid waste generated annually: 31.567 million tons (2014 est.)
municipal solid waste recycled annually: 8,602,008 tons (2015 est.)
percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 27.3% (2015 est.)
municipal: 6.23 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
industrial: 1.01 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
agricultural: 1.18 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
147 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
high-income, diversified non-EU European economy; sixth-largest importer and exporter; global financial and diplomatic leader; nominal consumption-led growth; high inflation and increased interest rates eroding purchasing power despite real wage growth
$3.136 trillion (2022 est.)
$3.028 trillion (2021 est.)
$2.816 trillion (2020 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
4.1% (2022 est.)
7.52% (2021 est.)
-11.03% (2020 est.)
$46,800 (2022 est.)
$45,000 (2021 est.)
$42,000 (2020 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
$2,827,918,000,000 (2019 est.)
2.52% (2021 est.)
0.99% (2020 est.)
1.74% (2019 est.)
Fitch rating: AA- (2020)
Moody’s rating: Aaa (2020)
Standard & Poors rating: AA (2016)
note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.
agriculture: 0.7% (2017 est.)
industry: 20.2% (2017 est.)
services: 79.2% (2017 est.)comparison rankings:
household consumption: 65.8% (2017 est.)
government consumption: 18.3% (2017 est.)
investment in fixed capital: 17.2% (2017 est.)
investment in inventories: 0.2% (2017 est.)
exports of goods and services: 30.2% (2017 est.)
imports of goods and services: -31.5% (2017 est.)
wheat, milk, barley, sugar beets, potatoes, rapeseed, poultry, oats, pork, beef
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
9.12% (2021 est.)
34.637 million (2021 est.)
4.53% (2021 est.)
4.47% (2020 est.)
3.74% (2019 est.)
total: 13.2% (2021 est.)
male: 14.6%
female: 11.8%
18.6% (2017 est.)
35.1 (2017 est.)
on food: 8.1% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
on alcohol and tobacco: 3.2% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
lowest 10%: 1.7%
highest 10%: 31.1% (2012)
revenues: $998.006 billion (2020 est.)
expenditures: $1.362 trillion (2020 est.)
-1.9% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
195.39% of GDP (2020 est.)
160.02% of GDP (2019 est.)
157.8% of GDP (2018 est.)
note: 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 intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental 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
24.73% (of GDP) (2020 est.)
6 April - 5 April
-$62.941 billion (2021 est.)
-$87.814 billion (2020 est.)
-$80.779 billion (2019 est.)
$874.5 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$791.7 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$893.1 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
United States 13%, Germany 9%, Netherlands 8%, Ireland 7%, Switzerland 6% (2021)
cars, gold, gas turbines, crude petroleum, packaged medicines (2021)
$898.719 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$783.438 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$939.349 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
China 13%, Germany 11%, United States 8%, Netherlands 6%, Norway 5% (2021)
gold, cars, natural gas, crude petroleum, packaged medicines (2021)
$194.181 billion (31 December 2021 est.)
$180.054 billion (31 December 2020 est.)
$173.569 billion (31 December 2019 est.)
$8.722 trillion (2019 est.)
$8.697 trillion (2018 est.)
British pounds (GBP) per US dollar -
Exchange rates:
0.727 (2021 est.)
0.78 (2020 est.)
0.783 (2019 est.)
0.75 (2018 est.)
0.777 (2017 est.)
electrification - total population: 100% (2021)
installed generating capacity: 113.153 million kW (2020 est.)
consumption: 289.688 billion kWh (2020 est.)
exports: 4.481 billion kWh (2020 est.)
imports: 22.391 billion kWh (2020 est.)
transmission/distribution losses: 27.746 billion kWh (2020 est.)comparison rankings:
fossil fuels: 37.8% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
nuclear: 15.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
solar: 4.3% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
wind: 25.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
hydroelectricity: 2.6% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
biomass and waste: 15% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Number of operational nuclear reactors: 9 (2023)
Number of nuclear reactors under construction: 2
Net capacity of operational nuclear reactors: 5.88GW (2023)
Percent of total electricity production: 14.8% (2021)
Percent of total energy produced: 8% (2021)
Number of nuclear reactors permanently shut down: 8
production: 2.892 million metric tons (2020 est.)
consumption: 9.401 million metric tons (2020 est.)
exports: 1.309 million metric tons (2020 est.)
imports: 5.537 million metric tons (2020 est.)
proven reserves: 26 million metric tons (2019 est.)
total petroleum production: 890,400 bbl/day (2021 est.)
refined petroleum consumption: 1,578,100 bbl/day (2019 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate exports: 818,200 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate imports: 891,700 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil estimated reserves: 2.5 billion barrels (2021 est.)
1.29 million bbl/day (2017 est.)
613,800 bbl/day (2017 est.)
907,500 bbl/day (2017 est.)
production: 32.48 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)
consumption: 75.7 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)
exports: 6.873 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)
imports: 51,050,178,000 cubic meters (2021 est.)
proven reserves: 180.661 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)
398.084 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from coal and metallurgical coke: 23.5 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from petroleum and other liquids: 216.237 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from consumed natural gas: 158.346 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
119.894 million Btu/person (2019 est.)
number of registered air carriers: 20 (2020)
inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 794
annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 165,388,610 (2018)
annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 6,198,370,000 (2018) mt-km
G
460 (2021)
271
civil airports: 51
military airports: 25
joint use (civil-military) airports: 1
other airports: 194
note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
189
note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control
9 (2021)
502 km condensate, 9 km condensate/gas, 28,603 km gas, 59 km liquid petroleum gas, 5,256 km oil, 175 km oil/gas/water, 4,919 km refined products, 255 km water (2013)
total: 16,390 km (2020) 6,167 km electrified
total: 394,428 km (2009)
paved: 394,428 km (2009) (includes 3,519 km of expressways)
3,200 km (2009) (620 km used for commerce)
total: 1,174 (2022)
by type: bulk carrier 133, container ship 58, general cargo 97, oil tanker 73, other 813
major seaport(s): Dover, Felixstowe, Immingham, Liverpool, London, Southampton, Teesport (England); Forth Ports (Scotland); Milford Haven (Wales)
oil terminal(s): Fawley Marine terminal, Liverpool Bay terminal (England); Braefoot Bay terminal, Finnart oil terminal, Hound Point terminal (Scotland)
container port(s) (TEUs): Felixstowe (3,700,000), London (3,111,000), Southampton (1,871,081) (2021)
LNG terminal(s) (import): Dragon, Isle of Grain, South Hook, Teesside
note 1: begun in 1988 and completed in 1994, the Channel Tunnel (nicknamed the Chunnel) is a 50.5-km (31.4-mi) rail tunnel beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover that runs from Folkestone, Kent, England to Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais in northern France; it is the only fixed link between the island of Great Britain and mainland Europe
note 2: the UK operates one PC 3 or 4 class medium icebreaker in the South Atlantic in support of operations in Antarctica
note - PC indicates a Polar Class vessel: PC 3 - year-round operation in second-year ice which may include multi-year ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 2.5 m); PC 4 - year-round operation in thick first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 120 cm)
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