GDP of the UK 1948-2021

The gross domestic product of the United Kingdom in 2021 was just under 2.2 trillion British pounds, an increase of approximately 152.3 billion pounds compared to the previous year when the size of the UK economy was 2.04 trillion pounds. The drop in GDP between 2019 and 2020 was brought about by the Coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, which caused severe damage to many industries, particularly in the service sector upon which the UK economy is heavily reliant.

 A return to growth in 2021

Annual GDP growth figures show that the UK economy grew by 7.5 percent in 2021, compared with a record fall in GDP in 2020, when the economy shrank by 9.4 percent. It is forecast that the UK economy will grow by 3.9 percent in 2022, and then by 1.8 percent in 2023. Recent monthly growth figures for April 2022 show that the UK economy has not grown since January 2022, after zero growth was reported in February, and negative growth rates of 0.1 percent and 0.3 percent were experienced in March and April 2022, respectively. The 2022 cost of living crisis in the UK driven by high energy and food inflation, has caused households to curb consumer spending,

 How big is the UK economy compared to others?

As of 2020, the UK had the sixth largest economy in world, behind the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and India. Among European nations, this meant that the UK currently has the second largest economy in Europe, although the economy of France, Europe's third largest economy, is of a very similar size. The UK's global economic ranking will likely fall in the coming years however, with the UK's share of global GDP expected to fall from 2.34 percent in 2022 to 2.15 percent by 2027.