Many of the workers who took part in strikes were part of the UK’s public sector, which saw far weaker wage growth than that of the private sector throughout 2022. Widespread industrial action continued into 2023, with approximately 303,000 workers involved in industrial disputes in March 2023. There was far less industrial action by 2024, however, due to settlements in many of the disputes, although some are ongoing as of 2025.
Top filming locations: Britain on screen
- The number of craft beers and microbreweries has expanded rapidly in the last two decades.512 Other popular alcoholic drinks produced in the UK include Scotch whisky, English wine, gin, perry and cider.
- In 1982 Argentina invaded the British territories of South Georgia and the Falkland Islands, leading to the 10-week Falklands War in which Argentine forces were defeated.
- Sports governing bodies in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland organise and regulate the game separately.537 Every four years the Home Nations make a combined team known as the British and Irish Lions which tours Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
- Although the Retail Price Index is a commonly utilized inflation indicator, the UK also uses a newer method of calculating inflation, the Consumer Price Index.
Inflation nevertheless remains elevated, fueled not only by high food inflation, but also by underlying core inflation. As of February 2025, the overall CPI inflation rate was 2.8 percent, although an uptick in inflation is expected later in the year, with a rate of 3.7 percent forecast for the third quarter of the year. The origins of the United Kingdom can be traced to the time of the Anglo-Saxon king Athelstan, who in the early 10th century ce secured the allegiance of neighbouring Celtic kingdoms and became “the first to rule what previously many kings shared between them,” in the words of a contemporary chronicle. Through subsequent conquest over the following centuries, kingdoms lying farther afield came under English dominion.
High inflation falls to more typical levels by 2024
The most important key figures provide you with a compact summary of the topic of “The UK economy” and take you straight to the corresponding statistics. Unsurprisingly, the heat wave that spread across the British Isles in 2018 was the result of particularly sunny weather. This was more hours of sun than was recorded in July 2024, which only saw 5.8 hours of sun.
Most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922 as the Irish Free State, and the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 created the present United Kingdom. In 2024, the average salary for full-time workers in the UK was 37,430 British pounds a year, up from 34,963 in the non gamstop casinos previous year. In London, the average annual salary was far higher than the rest of the country, at 47,455 pounds per year, compared with just 32,960 in North East England.
CPI annual inflation rate UK 2019-2030
The peoples who, over the centuries, have hewed an existence from this Atlantic extremity of Eurasia have put their own imprint on the environment, and the ancient and distinctive palimpsest of their field patterns and settlements complements the natural diversity. The next election doesn’t have to be held until 2029, and the government continues to hope that its economic measures will spur higher growth and ease financial pressures. The budget is a high-stakes moment for Reeves and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is facing mounting concern from Labour lawmakers over his dire poll ratings. Opinion polls consistently put Labour well behind the hard-right Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage.