Agriculture in England and Trade in the United Kingdom
After an exciting semifinal match between Croatia and England, the final weekend matches are set. On Saturday, England will face Belgium during the third place match and, on Sunday, France will face Croatia for the 2018 World Cup. The 1966 World Champion, England was not able to overcome the Croatian national team despite being the early favorite. Additionally, England and the United Kingdom are currently in the global spotlight because of President Trump’s first official visit to the country. Therefore, as part of this week’s series of World Cup finalists, this article will explore the macroeconomics of the United Kingdom, which unites England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Agriculture in England and Trade in the United Kingdom
Located in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, the United Kingdom is an insular nation composed of a series of islands, the main one being Great Britain. Currently, the United Kingdom has a total territory of 243.610 square kilometers, which is somewhat smaller than Oregon. With 12.429 kilometers of coastline, the country is dominated by rugged mountains, low hills, and rolling plains. The United Kingdom has a total population of 65.7 million citizens, 83% of which live in an urban setting, notably the capital city of London with almost 10 million inhabitants. The national annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is about US$2.8 trillion (PPP) and the country has experienced positive economic growth upwards of 1.5% in recent years. The British economy is divided into 1% agriculture, 19% manufacturing, and 80% services. Similarly, it is estimated that the agricultural industry employs 2% of the national labor force, while manufacturing employs 15% and services employ another 83%. Meanwhile, the agriculture industry utilizes 71% of the national territory, while another 12% is forested.
In terms of natural resources, the United Kingdom has coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, lead, zinc, gold, tin, limestone, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, potash, and silica sand. Within manufacturing, the national industry is focused on machinery, electric equipment, railroads, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles, communications equipment, metals, chemicals, paper products, food processing, textiles, and clothing. Simultaneously, the United Kingdom’s agricultural industry has as main products cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables, cattle, sheep, poultry, and fish. During 2016, the United Kingdom imported US$609 billion worth of goods and exported US$374 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of US$235 billion. Furthermore, that same year, the country’s main export, representing 12% or US$44.1 billion of the country’s total, were cars. On the other hand, the country’s main import, representing 8.2% or US$50 billion of all international purchases, was gold. In terms of trade, the United Kingdom is in the process of leaving the European Union and it does not use the Euro as its national currency, but rather the British Pound. Meanwhile, its main trading partners are France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, and China.
(Read more about European Agribusiness and International Trade)