The United Kingdom has the fifth largest economy in the world in terms of market exchange rates and the sixth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). It has the second largest economy in Europe after Germany.

The United Kingdom is one of the world's most globalised countries, ranking fourth in one recent survey. The capital, London (see Economy of London), is one of the three major financial centres of the world, along with New York City and Tokyo.

The British economy is often described as an 'Anglo-Saxon economy'. It is made up (in descending order of size) of the economies of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK has been a member state of the European Union since 1973.

In the 1980s, under the Government of Margaret Thatcher, most state-owned enterprises in the industrial and service sectors, which since the 1940s had been nationalised, were privatised. The British Government now owns very few industries or businesses - Royal Mail is one example.

The British economy has in recent years seen the longest period of sustained economic growth for more than 150 years, having grown in every quarter since 1992. It is one of the strongest EU economies in terms of inflation, interest rates and unemployment, all of which remain relatively low. Consequently, the United Kingdom, according to the International Monetary Fund, now has the seventh highest level of GDP per capita in the European Union in terms of purchasing power parity, after Luxembourg, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria and Finland. However, in common with the economies of other English-speaking countries, it has higher levels of income inequality than many European countries. The UK also has the world's third largest current account deficit, despite significant oil revenues.

Although the UK's "labour productivity per person employed" has been progressing well over the last two decades and has overtaken productivity in Germany, it lags around 20% behind France's level, where workers have a 35-hour working week. The UK's "labour productivity per hour worked" is currently on a par with the average for the "old" EU (15 countries).

The United Kingdom currently ranks 16th on the Human Development Index.