United Kingdom
Abbey Biondo
Overall Score: 75.8 World Ranking: 13
UK Quick Facts
Population: 64.1 Million
GDP: $2.4 Trillion
GDP % Growth: 1.8%
GDP per capita: $37,307
Unemployment: 7.5%
Inflation: 2.6%
Foreign Direct Investment: $37.1 Billion
Legal System
Private property rights and contracts are secure, and the court system is efficient. Protection of intellectual property rights is effective. Also, Corruption is not very common, however there have been very some high-profile scandals. They have one of the best anti-bribery laws.
Competitive Markets
In April this year, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) became fully operational in its role as the UK’s lead competition and consumer authority. The new body was the result of a merger between some functions of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Competition Commission (CC), as set out in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act of 2013. The Competition Act 1998 and the Enterprise Act 2002 are the most important statutes for cases with a purely national dimension.
Limits on Government Regulation
The regulatory environment is transparent. With no minimum capital required, starting a business takes six procedures and less than a week. Bankruptcy proceedings are straightforward.
An Efficient Capital Market
The U.K. generally treats foreign and domestic investors equally. The government still holds substantial stakes in the banking sector but is trying to sell its shares. A bank levy applied to both domestic and foreign banks has been in place.
Monetaty Stability
The Financial Services Act 2012 established an independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC), a new prudential regulator as a subsidiary of the Bank, and created new responsibilities for the supervision of financial market infrastructure. The labor market is relatively efficient, and non-salary costs are moderate. Inflation has fallen rapidly, reflecting the end of administered price increases, and the government has pledged to end subsidies for onshore wind farms.
Low Tax Rates
The top individual income tax rate is now 45 percent, and the top corporate tax rate is now 21 percent. Other taxes include a value-added tax and an environment tax. The overall tax burden equals 35.2 percent of the domestic economy. Public expenditures amount to 48.2 percent of domestic output, and government debt equals 90 percent of gross domestic product.
Free Trade
EU members have a 1.0 percent average tariff rate. Although some non-tariff barriers exist, the EU is relatively open to external trade. The U.K. generally treats foreign and domestic investors equally.
United Kingdom Economic Growth Forecast Raised By IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has sharply increased its growth forecast for the UK economy. It now expects the economy to grow 2.4% this year - faster than any other major European economy - against its previous forecast of 1.9%. In 2015, it expects growth of 2.2%. The Treasury said the new UK forecast was further evidence that the government's economic plan was working. The IMF also raised its global growth outlook slightly to 3.7%.