United Kingdom GDP per Capita: Overview and Outlook
Current GDP per Capita
The United Kingdom's GDP per capita is currently around USD 53,000, confirming its position as a high-income economy.
Historical Changes in the United Kingdom's GDP per Capita
The UK economy experienced a strong period of growth in the early 2000s, often termed the "NICE" (Non-Inflationary, Consistently Expansionary) decade. This was powered by a booming financial services sector and strong consumer spending fueled by rising house prices and debt. This, coupled with the strong pound, led nominal GDP per capita to almost double between 2000 and 2007.
This era came to an abrupt end with the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, which hit the UK's oversized banking sector particularly hard and triggered a deep recession. The period since 2008 has been one of disappointing real GDP growth and chronic low productivity. This stagnation was compounded by the economic uncertainty and trade frictions that followed the 2016 Brexit referendum. Moreover, the pound has weakened as a result of Brexit. As a result, nominal GDP per capita (measured in USD terms) has been fairly static since 2007.
GDP per Capita Predictions for the Coming Years
The outlook among our panelists points to a return to a path of steady, sustained growth in nominal per capita income. This will be due to a combination of a fairly steady pound—following the depreciation of the past decade—and a mild rise in real GDP.
Want to get concrete forecasts for the UK's GDP per capita for the coming years? FocusEconomics collects GDP per capita projections out to 2035 from a panel of 13 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. To get in touch with our team for more information, fill in the form here.
Key Factors to Watch
The UK's economic relationship with the EU is the crucial determinant of the outlook in the coming years. If the country moves significantly closer to the bloc, this would boost real GDP growth and the pound, translating into higher nominal GDP per capita. However, under the current Labour government, markedly closer trade ties with the EU appear unlikely.
Further ahead, victory for the right-wing Reform party in elections towards the end of the decade could weaken the pound, hurting GDP per capita.
United Kingdom GDP Per Capita Chart
Note: This chart displays GDP per capita (USD) for United Kingdom from 2014 to 2024.
Source: Macrobond.
United Kingdom GDP Per Capita Data
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP per capita (USD) | 40,220 | 46,717 | 46,042 | 49,197 | 52,622 |
How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects British GDP Per Capita projections for the next ten years from a panel of 13 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. These projections are then validated by our in-house team of economists and data analysts and averaged to provide one Consensus Forecast you can rely on for each indicator. By averaging all forecasts, upside and downside forecasting errors tend to cancel each other out, leading to the most reliable GDP Per Capita forecast available for British GDP Per Capita.
Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our British GDP Per Capita projections.
Want to get access to the full dataset of British GDP Per Capita forecasts? Send an email to info@focus-economics.com.