The United Kingdom is one of the larger economies of Europe, although not being part of the EU any more.
As of 2024, the United Kingdom’s population is estimated to be approximately 67.96 million. The population has shown a modest growth rate of around 0.35% from the previous year. It has a diverse set of overseas born populations, with the largest contributing countries being Poland, India, and Pakistan.
The UK has a mixed economy, which is the sixth-largest national economy in the world by nominal GDP. It is characterized by a highly developed and market-oriented sector. The largest city and capital is London, which is a major global city and financial center.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) to the UK slumped during the economic crisis. Fortunately, it has been improving significantly. In 2014, UK ranked as the 11th largest recipient of foreign direct investment. Main sectors that attract FDI are:
Respectively, imports and exports make up 25.8% and 19.2% of the total economic output. This is a country that should be included in your marketing plan. The top five imports and exports are as follow:
| Imports | % of total | Exports | % of total |
| Machinery | 13.2 | Machinery | 14 |
| Oil | 11.3 | Oil | 11.2 |
| Vehicles | 11 | Vehicles | 10.6 |
| Electronic equipment | 8.9 | Gems, precious metals, coins | 10.3 |
| Gems, precious metals, coins | 5.2 | Pharmaceuticals | 6.6 |
According to the European Information Technology Observatory, the UK offers the largest ICT market in Europe. Areas where imports are expected to grow include tablets, cloud-computing, real-time data analysis, and business software.
The UK is a market for new technology and design along with a sophisticated group of consumers who are patrons of new innovations in technology and well established channels for distribution.
Almost every country or trade block in the world has its own detailing on the international HS-code list. With our report you strongly reduce the risk on misclassifications, delays and higher custom duties than expected.
Tell us what you want to ship and where to and we ask you all relevant questions to get to the most likely code.
Even if your business is really international, it may be wise to set up local website translations and check whether your text aligns with the culture.
With regards to content, my personal experience is that if you have a successful blog topic in one language, it is likely to do well also in other languages. Don’t reinvent the wheel, just make a proper translation.
First of all you may have to pay import duties or settle VAT. This can be complex if you don’t have your own legal entity in the country.
There may also be non-financial bariers, like certifications or approvals to be obtained. Especially for food, cosmetics or medicine this may be the case. Check this in advance, even before you invest in your marketing.