After a good performance until 2016, growth slowed in the first half of 2017. The unemployment rate has fallen to below 4.5%, but real wages are in a downward trend. Planned Brexit has raised uncertainty and dented business investment. Negotiating the closest possible EU-UK economic relationship...

After a good performance until 2016, growth slowed in the first half of 2017. The unemployment rate has fallen to below 4.5%, but real wages are in a downward trend. Planned Brexit has raised uncertainty and dented business investment. Negotiating the closest possible EU-UK economic relationship would limit the cost of exit. The authorities should allow automatic stabilisers to work and identify in advance productivity-enhancing fiscal initiatives on investment, to be implemented rapidly were growth to weaken significantly in the run-up to Brexit, while safeguarding fiscal sustainability. Comprehensive policy packages should boost the productivity of lagging regions and cities, which requires local transport investments to foster connectivity, spending on research and development to raise innovation, housing investments to ease the matching of skills to jobs, and greater educational attainment and training tailored to business needs. Enhancing teachers’ training and other incentives, in particular in disadvantaged schools, would address teacher shortages and improve skills. Low-skilled workers participate less in lifelong learning and introducing targeted re-training programmes would boost competencies more broadly. Tax and regulatory reforms of non-standard forms of employment would offset workers’ weaker bargaining power and ensure better job quality. SPECIAL FEATURES: REGIONAL PRODUCTIVITY; PRODUCTIVITY OF LOW-SKILLED WORKERS

Like many countries, the United Kingdom has been hit severely by the COVID-19 outbreak. A strict lockdown was essential to contain the pandemic but halted activity in many key sectors. While restrictions have eased, the country now faces a prolonged period of disruption to activity and jobs, which risks exacerbating pre-existing weak productivity growth, inequalities, child poverty and regional disparities. On-going measures to prevent a second wave of infections will need to be carefully calibrated to manage the economic impact.

- Basic statistics of India, 2015 or latest year available (Numbers in parentheses refer to the OECD average) - Acronyms - Executive summary - Assessment and recommendations - Follow-up to previous OECD policy recommendations - Making income and property taxes more growth-friendly and redistributive - Achieving strong and balanced regional development - Spatial inequalities: across states or between rural and urban areas?

OECD's 1962 Economic Survey of the United Kingdom covers the experience in the 1950s, Obstacles to growth in the 1950s, balance of payments, and current prospects.

OECD's 1963 Economic Survey of the United Kingdom covers the management of demand, longer-term growth, labour market policies, and the external position.