National Economy of Great Britain

Great Britain is a highly industrialized country: for every person working in agriculture, twelve are employed in industry. British economy is based on private enterprise. Manufacturing accounts for 21 per cent of the gross national product, while service industry output accounts for 65 per cent.

North-west of London there is a very important industrial region where a lot of machine tools are produced. The largest coal and iron fields in Britain are located in Midlands. Manchester is one of the main centres of electrical and heavy engineering. A wide range of gods such as computers, electronic equipment, chemicals and pharmaceuticals are produced here. Newcastle is famous for its shipbuilding yards and its export of coal. Due to rich deposits of oil and natural gas in the North Sea Great Britain has become self-sufficient in energy. Over half of domestic oil production is exported.

Although Great Britain is an industrial country, agriculture still remains one of its important industries. Dairying is most common in the west of England, sheep and cattle are reared in northern and south-western England.

Britain is one of the world’s leading financial centres. Financial services are a fast growing part of service sector which now provides over 65 per cent of output and two thirds of employment. The fastest growth sectors of service industry in recent years have been leisure, financial services and distribution.

International trade plays a vital role in British economy. Britain is the fifth largest trading nation in the world. Over 80 per cent of visible exports are manufactured goods. Major British manufacturing exports include electrical, electronic and instrument engineering products, chemicals, motor vehicles and aerospace products, Britain is among the largest exporters of tractors and products of agricultural research such as breeds. The export of services and other invisible items occupies an important place in the economy. Surplus from invisible exports is considered to be the second largest in the world. About half of Britain’s trade is with European Community partners.

Assignment 5. Answer the following questions in written form.

1. Which is more important to British economy: manufacturing, agriculture or services?

2. What share of output and employment does service sector account for?

3. Which is more important to British trade: visible exports or invisible exports. Substantiate your point.

Assignment 6. Supply the synonyms from the text.

To explain, equipment, field, rest, assortment of goods, domestic, income, commerce.