UK Growth Compared with Emerging Economies
- The growth rate of a country is measured by the annual change in its gross domestic product (GDP)
- Emerging economies are economies that have increasing growth rates but relatively low income per head (per capita)
- E.g. India, China and Brazil are considered to be emerging economies
- E.g. India, China and Brazil are considered to be emerging economies
- UK growth tends to be lower than emerging economies
- A key factor why emerging economies are growing at a faster rate than the UK economy is because of the growth of the manufacturing sector
- The UK economy has seen a decline in the manufacturing sector as businesses choose to manufacture in emerging economies due to lower labour costs and access to raw materials
- China is the world’s largest manufacturing economy and exporter of goods
The growth rate of China from 2002 to 2021 peaked at around 14%
Source: Macrotrends
The growth rate of the UK from 2002 to 2021 peaked at around 4%
Source: Macrotrends
- A comparison of the two charts above quickly reveals that the growth rate of China is consistently higher than that of the UK
- The UK growth rate peaks at around 4% in 2000 whereas China peaks at around 14% in 2007
Exam Tip
In Paper 1, Extract A-D may include graphs with economic data such as GDP figures which you may be required to interpret and explain trends over a period of time. Make sure you read the titles and labels of the axis to be clear about what the information is showing