Topic updates
6 Minute Update - Key Stats for your A Level Economics Exams in June 2017!
Geoff Riley
12th June 2017
A succinct summary (and a 6 minute video) of the key UK macro numbers ahead of the exams!
Snapshot of the UK Economy
- GDP growth in 2016: 1.8% (down from 2.2% in 2015)
- Consumer spending grew 2.8%, investment only 0.8%, exports grew 1.8%
- Unemployment: 4.6% of labour force - lowest for 40 years
- 31.8 million people in work, 4.8m self employed, 1.6m temps
- Inflation rate 2.7% (Euro Area inflation was just 0.2)
- Budget deficit = £52 billion (2.6% of GDP) – down by £20 bn in a year
- National debt = £1,730 billion, 87% of GDP
- Productivity rose only 0.3% in 2016
- Base interest rates – 0.25% cut from 0.5% by MPC in August 2016
- Bank of England quantitative easing £445 bn
- Sterling exchange rate depreciated by 11% during 2016
- Pay: Median gross weekly earnings was £539, up 2% over year
- FTSE-100 index has reached record highs in recent weeks – now over 7,500
- Average UK house price = £225,000 – up 6% over the last year
- UK trade balance: Surplus of £97 bn on trade in services was outweighed by deficit of £134 bn on trade in goods in 2016. Overall deficit of £37 bn
- Current account deficit was £84 bn in 2016 (a deficit of 4.4% of GDP)
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