UK is the fifth largest economy in the world (source World Bank 2007) with a population of approximately 60 million people.

The credit crunch and the UK housing market showing signs of a downturn have hit UK economy hard. This will affect the growth of the economy that had been growing at 2.8% (in 2006) and 3.1% (in 2007).

London is a major centre for international business and commerce and is the leader of the three "command centres" for the global economy (along with New York City and Tokyo). For over twenty-five years, the British economy has corresponded with what some described as the Anglo-Saxon model, focusing on the principles of liberalization, the free market, and low taxation and regulation. Based on market exchange rates, the United Kingdom is the fifth largest economy in the world and the second largest in Europe after Germany.

The financial services (banking and insurance) sector dominates most of the UK. London is the world's largest financial centre (LSE, Futures Market and Lloyds). It also has the largest concentration of foreign bank branches in the world. In the past decade, a rival financial centre in London has grown in the Docklands area, with HSBC and Barclays Bank relocating their head offices there.

Many multinational companies that are not primarily UK-based have chosen to site their European or rest-of-world headquarters in London.

The Scottish capital, Edinburgh, also has one of the large financial centres of Europe.

The UK is the sixth major tourist destination (according to recent rankings); therefore it is very important to the British economy, with over 27 million tourists a year.