The economy of the United Kingdom is the sixth-largest national economy in the world measured by nominal GDP and eighth-largest measured by purchasing power parity (PPP), and the second-largest in Europe measured by both nominal GDP and PPP (after Germany in both cases). The UK's GDP per capita is the 22nd highest in the world in nominal terms and the 22nd highest measured by PPP. The British economy encompasses (in descending order of size) the economies of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK has one of the world's most globalised economies. London is the world's largest financial centre alongside New York and has the largest city GDP in Europe. As of December 2010 the UK had the third-largest stock of both inward and outward foreign direct investment (in each case after the United States and France). The aerospace industry of the UK is the second- or third-largest national aerospace industry.

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The UK economy has been weak in recent years following the late 2000s recession with growth largely flat since 2010. The UK experienced a double dip recession between Q2 2008 and Q2 2012 which was the longest and deepest in 50 years, with the economy shrinking again 0.3% in Q4 2012,[43] and unemployment holding steady at late-2008 levels of 7.7%. In February 2013, the UK lost its top AAA credit rating for first time since 1978. The Office for National Statistics has estimated that in 2011, 14 million people were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, and that one person in 20 was now experiencing “severe material depression,” up from 3 million people in 1977. Inflation-adjusted wages in the UK fell by 3.2% between Q3 2010 and Q3 2012. Since the 1980s, economic inequality has grown faster in the UK than in any other developed country. The service sector is the dominant sector of the UK economy, and contributes around 73% of GDP.