英国经济概况（英文）

Economy of Britain Great Britain is one of the world's leading industrialized nations. It has achieved this position despite the lack of most raw materials needed for industry. The country also must import about 40% of its food supplies. Thus, exchange for raw materials and foodstuffs. Within the manufacturing sector, the largest industries include machine tools; electric power, automation, and railroad equipment; ships; motor vehicles and parts; aircraft; electronic and communications equipment; metals; chemicals; petroleum; coal; food; processing; paper and printing; textiles; and clothing. During the 1970s and 80s, nearly 3.5 million manufacturing jobs were lost, but in the 1990s over 3.5 million jobs were created in service-related industries. By the late 1990s, banking, insurance, business services, and other service industries accounted for two thirds of the GDP and employed almost 70% of the workforce. This trend was also reflected in a shift in Great Britain's economic base, which has benefited the southeast, southwest, and Midlands regions of the country, while the north of England and Northern Ireland have been hard hit by the changing economy. The main industrial and commercial areas are the great conurbations, where about one third of the country's population lives. The administrative and financial center and most important port is Greater London, which also has various manufacturing industries. London is Europe's foremost financial city. Metal goods, vehicles, aircraft, synthetic fibers, and electronic equipment are made in the West Midlands conurbation, which with the addition of Coventry roughly corresponds to the former metropolitan county of West Midlands. Greater Manchester has cotton and synthetic textiles, coal, and chemical industrial Black Country and the city of Birmingham are in the West Midlands. Greater Manchester has cotton and synthetic textiles, coal, and chemical industries and is a transportation and warehousing center. Liverpool, Britain's second port, along with Southport and Saint Helen are part of the Merseyside conurbation. Leeds, Bradford, and the neighboring metropolitan districts are Britain's main center of woolen, worsted, and other textile production. The Tyneside-Wearside region, with Newcastle upon Tyne as its center and Sunderland as a main city, has coal mines and steel, electrical engineering, chemical, and shipbuilding and repair industries. The South Wale conurbation, with the ports of Swansea,Cardiff, and Newport, was traditionally a center of coal mining and steel manufacturing; coal mining has declined sharply, however, in many part of the region. Current important industries also include oil refining, metals production(lead, zinc, nickel, aluminum), synthetic fibers, and electronics, In Scotland,the region around the River Clyde, including Glasgow, os noted for shipbuilding, marine engineering, and printing as well as textile, food, and chemicals production. The Belfast area in Northern Ireland is a shipbuilding, textile, and food products center. Great Britain has abundant supplies of coal, oil, and natural gas, Production of oil from offshore wells in North Sea began in 1975, and the country is self-sufficient in petroleum. Other mineral resource include iron ore, tin, limestone, salt, china clay, oil shale, gypsum, and lead. About 25% of Britain's land is arable, and almost half is suitable for meadows and pastures. Its agriculture is highly mechanized and extremely productive; barely, wheat, rapeseed, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits, and vegetables are the main crops. The widespread dairy industry produces milk, eggs, and cheese. Beef cattle and large number of sheep, as well as poultry and pigs, are raised throughout much of the country. There is also a sizable fishing industry, with cod, haddock, mackerel, whiting, trout, salmon, and shellfish making up the bulk of the catch. The country's chief export are manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods, and transport equipment. The chief imports are manufactured goods, machinery, semifinished and consumer goods, and foodstuffs, since the early 1970s, Great Britain's trade focus has shifted from the United States to the European Union, which now accounts for over 50% of its trade. Germany, the United States, France, and the Netherlands are the main trading partners, and the Commonwealth countries are also important . Over the past two decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership and contained the growth social welfare programs. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with less than 2% of the labor force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production account by far for the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in importance. GDP growth slipped in 2001~2003 as the global downturn, the high value of the export. Output recovered in 2004, to 3.2% growth, but fell in 2005, to 1.7%. Despite slower growth, the economy is one of the strongest in Europe; inflation, interest rates, and unemployment remain low. The relatively good economic performance has complicated the Blair government's efforts to make a case for Britain to join the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Critics point out that the economy is doing well outside of EMU, and public opinion polls show a majority of Britons are opposed to the euro. Meantime, the government has been speeding up the improvement of education, transport, and health services, at a cost in higher taxes and a widening public deficit. The United Kingdom, particularly London, has traditionally been a world financial center. Restructuring and deregulation transformed the sector during the 1980s and '90s, with important changes in banking, insurance, the London Stock Exchange, shipping, and commodity markets. Some long-standing distinctions between financial institutions have become less clear-cut, For example, housing loans used to be primarily the responsibility of building societies, but increasingly bank and insurance companies have entered this area of lending. Two related developments have occurred: the transformation of building-society branch offices into virtual banks with personal cashing facilities and the diversification of all three of these types of institutions into real estate services, insurance, trusteeship, executorship.and land services. At the end of the 20th century, the financial services industry employed more than one million people and contributed about one-twelfth of the GDP, Although financial services have grown rapidly in some medium-sized cities, notably Leeds and Edinburgh, London has continued to dominate the industry and has grown in size and influence as a center of international financial operations. Capital flows have increased, as have foreign exchange than any other city in the world. Increased competition and technological developments have accelerated change. The international Stock Exchange was reorganized, and the historical two-tier structure of brokers, who executed investors;s instructions to buy and sell stocks and shares, and jobbers,who "made" markets in these securities, was abolished. As a result, new companies link British and foreign banks with former brokers and jobbers. The Financial Services Act of 1986, the Building Societies Act os 1987, and the Banking Act of 1987 regulate these new financial organizations. In 1997 the government established a Financial Services Authority (FSA) to regulate the FSA has taken over the supervision of the United Kingdom's commercial banks from the Bank os England. Trade has long been pivotal to the United Kingdom's economy. The total value of imports and exports represents nearly half the country's GDP. The volume of both the exports and the imports of the United Kingdom has grown steadily in recent years. Principal British exports include machinery, automobiles and other transport equipment, electrical and electronic equipment, chemicals,and oil. Services, particularly financial services, are another major export and contribute positively to Britain;s trade balance. The country imports about one-tenth of its foodstuffs and about one-third of its machinery and transport equipment. An increasing share of the United Kingdom's trade is with other developed countries. Joining the European Economic Community caused a major partners, although at the beginning of the 21st century the United States remained the United Kingdom's single largest export market and its second largest supplier. Germany was the leading supplier and the second most important export market. The most remarkable economic development in the United Kingdom has been the growth of service industries, which now provide about two-thirds of the GDP and three-fourths of total employment. This reflects the rise in real personal incomes, changes in patterns of business services.Although some services-for example, public transportation, laundries, and movie theatre-have declined in favor of privately owned goods-such as automobiles, washing machines, and television sets-this has stimulated increased demand for the related services that distribute, and finance. Especially rapid growth has occurred in other business-support services, including computing systems and software, management consultancy, advertising, market research, as well ad the provision of exhibition and conference facilities. Britain is also the base for some of the world's leading art auction houses. The United Kingdom's many cultural treasures-e.g., its historic castles, museums, and theatre-make it a popular tourist destination. The tourism industry is a leading sector in the British economy, and each year more than 25 million tourists visit the country. London is among the world's most-visited cities. Websites promoying UK tourism include www.visitbritain.com, virtual-London.com