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An economic view - HSBC's leading economists interpret the financial world

UK monthly commentary

July 2011 (PDF)

European monthly commentary

July 2011 (PDF)



Latest articles

Living on borrowed time (PDF)
Update on the US economy
(30 April 2011)

Seeking the Holy Grail, by George! (PDF)
UK Budget 2011
(23 March 2011)

A twin shock for the global economy (PDF)
International economic update
(17 March 2011)





The UK economy at a glance

The table below shows key indicators for the UK economy, incorporating the current HSBC forecast.

UK Economic Forecast

annual % change (except where otherwise stated) 2010 2011 2012   2011 2012
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
GDP 1.4 1.2 1.6 1.6 0.9 0.6 1.6 1.5 1.5
GDP (quarterly % growth) - - - 0.5 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3
Consumer spending 0.7 -0.7 1.5 -0.6 -1.1 -0.7 -0.1 0.9 1.5
Government spending 1.0 0.8 -1.4 1.1 0.8 0.8 0.5 -0.5 -1.2
Investment 3.6 1.1 4.2 0.0 2.8 0.0 1.6 4.3 3.8
Stockbuilding (% GDP) 1.5 0.0 -0.1 0.7 0.0 -0.2 -0.3 0.1 -0.1
Domestic demand 2.7 0.0 1.2 0.5 -0.1 -0.5 0.0 1.2 1.2
Exports 5.2 6.5 3.7 9.3 6.6 5.7 4.4 2.9 3.4
Imports 8.8 1.7 2.2 4.2 2.5 1.4 -1.0 1.9 2.1
Manufacturing output 3.6 3.0 1.4 0.9 -0.2 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
Unemployment (% ILO rate) 7.9 7.9 8.2 7.7 7.9 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3
Average earnings 1.9 1.9 2.5 2.5 1.6 2.0 1.6 2.1 2.5
Inflation - RPI 4.6 5.1 3.3 5.3 5.1 5.0 4.8 3.4 3.1
Inflation - CPI 3.3 4.3 2.2 4.1 4.4 4.4 4.2 2.7 2.1
Current account (% of GDP) -3.2 -2.1 -1.6 - - - - - -
Public sector net borrowing 1 (% of GDP) 10.0 7.9 6.2 - - - - - -
Exchange rate2 US$/£ 1.57 1.66 1.61 1.60 1.65 1.65 1.66 1.66 1.66
Exchange rate2 £/€ 0.86 0.87 0.87 0.89 0.86 0.86 0.87 0.87 0.87
UK Bank Rate 2 (%) 0.50 0.50 1.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.75 1.00
10-year bond yield 2 (%) 3.7 3.0 3.6 3.6 3.1 2.9 3.0 3.2 3.4

1 Fiscal years (2010 = FY10/11, 2011 = FY11/12, and 2012 = FY12/13).
2 At end-period.

Forecasts are as at 30 June 2011; data and forecasts are subject to revision
Sources: ONS / Thomson Datastream / HSBC.



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