Economy of United Kingdom

Agriculture in the UK is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards. The country produces around 65% of its food needs. Agriculture added gross value of £12.18 billion to the economy in 2018, and around 467,000 people were employed in agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing. It contributes around 0.5% of the UK's national GDP.Around two-thirds of production by value is devoted to livestock, and one-third to arable crops.The agri-food sector as a whole was worth £120 billion and accounts for 4 million jobs in the UK.

The construction industry of the United Kingdom employed around 2.3 million people and contributed gross value of £123.2 billion to the economy in 2019.One of the largest construction projects in the UK in recent years was Crossrail, costing an estimated £19 billion. It was the largest construction project in Europe. Opened in 2022,it is a new railway line running east to west through London and into the surrounding area, with a branch to Heathrow Airport.The main feature of the project is construction of 42 km (26 mi) of new tunnels connecting stations in central London.High Speed 2 between London and the West Midlands is one of Europe's largest infrastructure projects.Crossrail 2 is a proposed rail route in the South East of England.

This sector added gross value of £51.4 billion to the economy in 2018.The United Kingdom is expected to launch the building of new nuclear reactors to replace existing generators and to boost the UK's energy reserves.

With over 40 million visits in 2019, inbound tourism contributed £28.5 billion to the British economy, although just over half of that money was spent in London, which was the third most visited city in the world (21.7 million), behind second-placed Bangkok and first-placed Hong Kong.

The transport and storage industry added a gross value of £59.2 billion to the UK economy in 2011 and the telecommunication industry added a gross value of £25.1 billion in the same year.

The Trafford Centre shopping complex in Manchester was sold for £1.6 billion in 2011 in the largest property sale in British history.<br>Notable real estate companies in the United Kingdom include British Land, Land Securities, and The Peel Group. The UK property market boomed for the seven years up to 2008, and in some areas property trebled in value over that period. The increase in property prices had a number of causes: low interest rates, credit growth, economic growth, rapid growth in buy-to-let property investment, foreign property investment in London and planning restrictions on the supply of new housing.