IBISWorld presents a collection of fast facts for the different sectors of the UK economy.

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According to Defra, total income from farming is estimated to have been £4,119 million in 2020, a fall of £768 million or 15.7% from 2019. Agriculture’s contribution to the UK economy was £9,435 million in 2020, a 6.7% decrease from 2019.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), agriculture output recorded a 0.8% increase in June 2021.
According to Defra’s latest annual report released in June 2021, the total organic land area in the UK has grown slightly for the second consecutive year, increasing by 0.8% in 2020, with a total of 489,000 hectares of land farmed organically.
On 30 June 2021, the environment secretary confirmed that farmers will be able to earn up to £70 per hectare for actions to improve the health of their soil. As part of an update on the Agricultural Transition Plan, the government also announced that livestock farmers will be eligible for a free vet-led annual health and welfare review.
According to The National Pig Association, more than 70,000 pigs could be destroyed instead of being sold for meat due to worker shortages.

According to data from the ONS, mining and quarrying output contracted by 11.9% in June 2021. This was mainly attributed to planned temporary maintenance closures of oil field production sites. Output in the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas was at its lowest level in June 2021 since monthly records began in 1997.
OPEC+ has reached an agreement to increase oil production in response to soaring prices, setting a target to restore all of the output cut at the start of the pandemic by the end of 2022.
North Sea oil and gas producers are pushing the government to back up to 18 new fossil fuel projects, with trade body UK Oil and Gas arguing that not granting support for new fields will leave the United Kingdom dependent on imports as existing production declines. Approving all projects would mean spending as much as £21 billion on developing the new fields or extending the life of existing reservoirs, over the next five years, boosting UK production by 2.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent, as reported by The Financial Times. However, granting approval would also pose a question over the government’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.
Mining giant BHP has decided to leave the FTSE 100 index and instead move its listing to Australia.

According to manufacturing association Make UK, the UK manufacturing sector is expected to grow by 7.8% in 2021. This represents an upgrade on previous forecasts, which estimated growth of 3.9%.
According to the ONS, manufacturing output grew by 0.2% in June 2021. Nevertheless, manufacturing output remained 2.3% below pre-pandemic levels recorded in February 2020.
The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing PMI decreased slightly to 60.3 in August 2021, from 60.4 in the previous month. This signalled the 15^th consecutive month of expansion, aided by increased new business volumes. However, August PMI represented the slowest rate of expansion in five months, owing to supply chain issues.
According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, UK car production was 50.6% lower in July 2021 than in July 2019. This decline has been attributed to a global shortage of microchips and staff absences. Year-to-date UK car production was 28.7% lower for the first seven months through July 2021 than during the same period in 2019. Nevertheless, UK car production was 18.3% higher in the first seven months of 2021 than it was for the same period in 2020, in which manufacturing output was affected by the initial COVID-19 lockdown period.
In the ONS Business Insights and Impact on the UK Economy survey conducted between 26 July and 8 August 2021, 32.7% of firms in the manufacturing sector reported that their revenue was lower than would normally be expected for the time of the year. Approximately 11.2% of firms surveyed in the sector between 9 and 22 August 2021 stated that they had either temporarily or permanently ceased trading.
According to provisional estimates published by the ONS, 179,500 employees in the manufacturing sector remained on furlough at the end of June 2021. This was down on the previous month and is significantly below the peak of 911,000 employees furloughed on 17 April 2020.
The Construction Products Association has said that due to the new UK certification scheme post-Brexit, where UKCA certification has to be used for domestic goods, thousands of products are waiting to be tested at an additional expense of up to £50,000 each, pushing up costs for manufacturers.
The number of businesses applying to use the Made in Britain label rose by 130% in the year to April 2021, resulting in 508 new members joining the scheme. In order to use the label, businesses must manufacture in the UK and use British workers. UK manufacturers have been demanding to use the label in order to capitalise on rising domestic demand for UK-produced goods after Brexit.

According to Energy UK, 452,461 customers switched electricity supplier in July 2021. This represents a 13% decrease on switching rates recorded in July 2020, though it is a slight increase on the five-year monthly average of 449,000.
Ofgem has announced plans to support the rollout of electric vehicle charging facilities by making it cheaper for charging stations to connect to the electricity grid. This was announced as part of the regulator’s electric vehicles strategy, which also includes proposals for drivers to be able to release power back to the electricity grid during periods of peak demand.
According to data published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, renewables overtook fossil fuels in the UK’s energy mix for the first time in 2020, accounting for 43.6% of total electricity generated compared with 37.7% generated from fossil fuels. This was supported by a coronavirus-induced 5.3% decline in total electricity consumption and a significant increase in renewable generation capacity, particularly for offshore wind. Renewables’ share of electricity generation was 41.6% in the first quarter of 2021, the third highest quarterly share on record.
The Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) will allow water companies to increase prices temporarily to offset bad debt accumulated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From April 2021, water companies will bear 25% of bad debt costs where these are more than 2% of non-household revenue, and non-household customers will bear the rest.
The UK government has announced a review into the transparency of green energy tariffs marketed by energy retailers.
UK wholesale electricity market prices increased to a record high in August 2021. The average market price reached £107.50/MWh, representing a 14% increase on July 2021.

According to the ONS, construction output contracted by 1.3% in June 2021. The decline was driven by a 4.2% fall in repair and maintenance, which was partially offset by a 0.5% increase in new work.
The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction PMI posted 55.2 in August 2021. This is down from 58.7 in July 2021 but remains above the 50.0 no-change threshold. Commercial work was the best-performing category, though growth in the rate of expansion eased to the slowest rate in six months.
A shortage of key raw materials has led to cost increases across the construction sector. Among the items in short supply are timber, cement, steel, aggregates and plastics. The shortage has been attributed to an upsurge in demand amid a rebound in domestic and global construction activity. The Construction Products Association states that there could be further shortages in construction supplies due to delays to the new UKCA certification.
In the ONS Business Insights and Impact on the UK Economy survey conducted between 12 and 25 July 2021, 23.7% of firms in the construction sector reported that their revenue was lower than would normally be expected for the time of the year. Approximately 8.7% of firms surveyed in the sector between 9 and 22 August 2021stated that they had either temporarily or permanently ceased trading.
Provisional estimates published by HMRC show that 129,600 construction workers remained on furlough at the end of June 2021. This represents a decline on the number of furloughed workers in May 2021 and is significantly below the peak of 723,600 employees furloughed on 14 April 2020.
Construction output is expected to rise by 12.9% in 2021 and 5.2% in 2022, according to the Construction Products Association spring forecast. Infrastructure activity is expected to record the strongest growth, increasing by 29.3% to reach its highest level on record.
The UK construction sector is facing a potentially severe labour shortage as a result of reduced access to EU migrant labour and the EU Settlement Scheme deadline on 30 June. According to the ONS, employment of EU workers in the UK construction sector fell by 51% between the first quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2021.

In the ONS Business Insights and Impacts on the UK Economy survey conducted between 26 July and 8 August 2021, 30.4% of businesses in the wholesale and retail sector reported a lower turnover than would normally be expected for the time of year. Meanwhile, 42% reported that turnover has not been affected. The number of employees in the sector on partial or furlough was 4.4% over the same period.
Truck driver shortages has resulted in a shortage of supplies to the retail stores and hospitality venues, as well as healthcare and construction groups. In an attempt to tackle truck driver shortages, the United Kingdom is allowing drivers to work longer hours on road; however, haulage companies and unions have said that this could backfire in the longer term as it could worsen their recruitment problems by making working conditions less attractive.
Ministers have urged businesses to hire UK-based workers to address the shortage of lorry drivers, with the United Kingdom rejecting the plea for visas for EU truck drivers.
Logistics UK has stated that the shortage may become worse in August 2021 as this is when many workers take summer breaks. Major dairy producer Arla has said that it could not get milk to approximately 25% of supermarkets in the last week of July 2021 due to the driver shortages, while Logistics UK has urged consumers to not overbuy and be patient, with plenty of stock in warehouses.

According to the Local Data Company, more than 8,700 stores, or 50 establishments per day, closed over the six months through June 2021. Clothing and footwear retailers recorded the largest decline, following the exit of Arcadia group at the start of the year. Car showrooms, betting shops and bank establishments also followed a downward trajectory. City centres saw the greatest drop with lower tourist and commuter footfall.
According to the British Retail Consortium, total UK footfall rise to its highest level in August 2021 since the start of the pandemic as individuals opted to for staycations and the gradual return to offices. However, despite the uptick, August 2021 footfall still remains 18% below the same month in 2019. Retail parks recorded the strongest improvement, only 1.6% down from pre-pandemic levels. In contrast, footfall to high street stores remained 25% below pre-pandemic levels.
HMRC has released a list of 191 employers fined for breaches of minimum wages between 2011 and 2018. Companies included retail chains such as John Lewis, childcare providers, salons and farmers. BEIS stated the 191 firms owed a total of £2.1 million to more than 34,000 employees, and had been fined an additional £3.2 million. Breaches included wrongly deducting pay for uniforms, unpaid hours and the wrong apprenticeship rate.
Retailers and the Confederation of British Industry have warned of stock shortages following disruption at UK ports due to the UK’s exit from the European Union, red tape and COVID-19 restrictions could be extended until autumn. Labour shortages owing to the ‘pingdemic’, have also held-up supplies to warehouses and shops.
The ONS estimates that the volume of alcohol and tobacco sales has plummeted 76% over the last three decades. Rising health consciousness and a ban on indoor smoking is likely to have contributed to this fall.
UK supermarkets warn of rising costs under the Northern Ireland protocol. The retailers warned that they may need to move their supply chains from Britain to the European Union as a result of the added costs and complexities of moving goods into Northern Ireland. From October 2021, supermarkets face increased red tape at Northern Irish ports under the terms of the UK-EU trade deal, including additional checks, paperwork requirements and the need for Export Health Certificates on products originating from animals.

In the ONS Business Insights and Impacts on the UK Economy survey conducted between 26 July and 8 August 2021, 45.4% of businesses in the accommodation and food service activities sector reported a lower turnover than would normally be expected for the time of year.
According to UK trade body, UK Hospitality, an estimated 40% of hospitality venues have either totally or partially closed owing to lack of staff. Rising vacancies are the result of workers have returned to their home countries, taken other jobs during the pandemic, tightening immigration rules, as well as the ‘pingdemic’. The scarcest employees are mid-level chefs, many of whom came from Europe or elsewhere and do not earn enough to qualify for skilled worker status under the government’s new immigration system. As a result, many restaurant owners have cut lunch and dinner services and have raised wages and recruit trainees.
The UK’s largest pub group, Stonegate, has filed a £845 million lawsuit against a trio of insurers for losses it suffered during the pandemic. According to the initial filings, Stonegate recognises that the insurers do not dispute that the policies should have paid out, but contend their liability is limited to £17.5 million, of which £14.5 million has already been paid. Other upmarket hospitality groups such as Corbin & King, the owner London restaurants including The Wolseley and The Delaunay, and a group of hoteliers led by Black & White Hospitality, are also pursuing claims against their insurers tied to the pandemic.
Some pubs, bars and restaurants are facing product shortages due to disruptions in the supply chain and labour. For example, pub chain JD Wetherspoon has suffered shortages of some beer brands, while McDonald’s and Nando’s have also had to adjust menus and stop some product offerings.
UK hotels are facing a flood of last-minute cancellations as individuals rush abroad following the relaxation of travel restrictions, although international travel has largely been confined to couples with families opting to stay-at-home and visits to heritage site such as Cambridge and Bath, rising. Meanwhile, demand from international travel is expected to remain in a lull. According to VisitBritain, visits from abroad are expected to reach only 28% of pre-pandemic levels this summer.
Nightclubs were permitted to reopen from 19 July 2021, delayed from the initial reopening date of 21 June 2021, for the first time since the initial lockdown in March 2020. However, nightclubs in England introduced vaccine passports in September 2021, which has faced a backlash from some MPs and consumers.

In the ONS Business Insights and Impacts on the UK Economy survey, 23.5% of businesses in the real estate activities sector reported a decrease in turnover compared with normal levels between 26 July and 8 August 2021, the second lowest of all sectors.
According to Nationwide, annual house price growth was 11% in August 2021, up from 10.5% in July 2021. Prices were up 2.1% month on month and the average house price was £248,857. This may be due to strong demand from those buying a property in the £125,000-£250,000 price range, who are looking to take advantage of the stamp duty relief in place until the end of September 2021. Additionally, lack of supply contributed to the price rise in August 2021.
On the contrary, think-tank Resolution Foundation has found that the biggest house price rises came in areas that benefited the least from tax cuts, stating the stamp duty holiday did not cause the boom in prices.
Halifax states that there has been a boom in house prices outside of UK cities as a result of homeworking. Areas around big cities have recorded an average price growth of 10.8% between March 2020 and June 2021, compared with 8.9% for house prices in the cities.
According to HMRC’s tax data, completed residential purchases plunged by 63% in July 2021 compared with June 2021 as the stamp duty holiday break began phasing out from the end of June 2021.
The UK Treasury has extended the current rent moratorium on commercial properties until March 2022 in an attempt to protect businesses from being evicted by tenants. Landlords still face significant rent shortfalls, with total arrears estimated to be over £6 billion. According to commercial property management platform Re-Leased, commercial property owners collected just 18% of what they were owed on 25 June 2021, which was when rent was due for the three months to the end of September 2020. This is the lowest collection rate recorded in a year.
Offices in London currently offer more attractive returns than those in European capitals, partly because the Brexit vote cut supply. However, currently, occupancy rates are very low, with hybrid working models undertaken by many businesses likely to hit landlords. According to Remit Consulting, London offices were at 11.5% of capacity on average in the week through 6 August 2021, with the number of people going to work each day remaining very low despite the lifting of restrictions on 19 July 2021.
The boom in staycations has resulted in a strong rise in the number of holiday lets incorporated, with second-home owners look to offset their costs, as reported by The Financial Times. Using data from Companies House, estate agent Hamptons International states that 1,401 holiday let companies were incorporated over the first half of 2021, which is an 83% rise on the same period in 2020 and a 119% increase on 2019. This has outpaced growth in buy-to-let company set-ups, which were up 61% in the first six months of 2021 compared with 2019 levels.

The UK’s advertising watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority, has called on advertisers to make better use of online targeting tools to minimise children’s exposure to harmful and age-restricted content such as alcohol, gambling, and products high in fat, salt and sugar.
Accountants have warned that new government proposal to broaden the definition of ‘public interest entities’ would significantly increase the number of companies subject to stringent governance standards, which risks straining audit firms and the new regulator that is expected to replace the Financial Reporting Council in 2023, the Audit Reporting and Governance Authority.
The Quoted Companies Alliance, which represents listed SMEs, and accountants have criticised the plans to overhaul UK auditing and corporate governance following a number of high-profile financial scandals, as they claim the changes will stifle businesses’ growth and increase costs, as reported by The Financial Times. KPMG has come out stating the plans to overhaul auditing practices would not improve the quality of scrutiny of companies’ financial statements, while the architect of the UK’s governance standards for private businesses, Sir James Wates, has said that the move will have a significant negative impact, as it would increase costs and discourage growth and innovation.
The UK government is planning to force technology companies, such as Amazon, Airbnb and Deliveroo, to report the income of people selling goods and services using their websites and apps to HMRC from January 2023, which is estimated to affect between two million and five million UK businesses.
The government has been urged by professional bodies to delay its digital tax-collection initiative for self-employed people and changes as to how businesses report their profits, as the measures would put huge pressure on companies. The government’s plan to make tax digital has been singled out in particular as it will require 4.3 million self-employed people and small businesses to keep digital records and report their income to HMRC every quarter from April 2023.
The Financial Times reports that the European Commission’s plan to block the United Kingdom from joining the 2007 Lugano Convention would cause severe complications in relation to divorce settlements and child maintenance awards, according to lawyers.

UK universities are facing rising competition from rivals with mounting fees, visa difficulties and limited marketing. According to UCAS, the number of applications by the 30 June deadline from EU students was down 43% on the previous year to 28,400, offset by a rise of 14% in non-EU students.
More than 50 UK universities have chartered at least four flights to bring Chinese students to the United Kingdom ahead of the start of term, fearing global travel restrictions may cost hundreds in overseas fees.
Following a second year of grade inflation as A-levels were cancelled and student performance was assessed coursework, 28,880 students have deferred starting university with some universities offering financial incentives, including £10,000 credit towards student accommodation.
Gavin Williamson, the education minister, has stated universities not returning to face-to-face teaching should not charge full fees. However, ministers would give the Office for Students, the independent regulator of higher education in England, the deciding power in pursuing universities that do not meet student teaching standards.
New technology including air purifiers and ultra-violet lights are set to be trialled in UK classrooms to contain the spread of COVID-19, although full roll-out will not be until 2022. Scientists and education leaders have called upon Downing Street to act now in improving classroom ventilation and consider mask-wearing too amid concerns that the highly transmissible Delta variant will rapidly spread through schools upon their reopening at the start of September 2021.
Ministers are no longer considering making it compulsory for university students to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend lectures in England. Plans were abandoned largely due to policing concerns.
The UK government have introduced a £4 million Latin Excellence Programme to level up opportunities for state secondary school pupils, as well as helping them with other subjects such as English, French, Spanish and maths. According to a British Council survey, Latin is only taught at key stage 3 in 2.7% of state schools compared with 49% of independent schools. In addition to learning Latin, the new programme will include activities such as visits to Roman heritage sites to give pupils a deeper understanding of Classics and life in the ancient world.

Social care is facing unprecedented crisis over staff shortages. Care providers are struggling to recruit with low wages, the pandemic, UK-EU visa related workforce changes and summer-leave. Burnout and increasing workloads and pressure are also posing a problem with staff retention. According to a survey by the National Care Forum, some 60% of care homes have suffered a rise in the rate of staff turnover.
According to analysis by The Health Foundation Charity, an additional £16.8 billion would be needed for the NHS to see 92% of patients within 18 weeks until 2024-25; the maximum amount of time individuals are meant to wait for non-urgent, consultant led treatments. The analysis comes days after groups representing hospitals, doctors and other care providers estimated that an additional £10 billion in funding was needed to cover COVID-19 related costs, deal with the growing backlog of patients and allow for lost efficiency savings.
In September 2021, Sequiris, one of the largest UK suppliers of seasonal flu vaccines, announced a delay of up to fortnight to some GP surgeries due to issues related to HGV drivers. The delays are expected to have a compounding effect to GP surgeries and workloads, which have spent the past few weeks gearing up for jabs, inviting patients to book appointments.
Under a new deal between the NHS and pharmaceutical giant Novartis, approximately 300,000 patients with high cholesterol and history of cardiovascular disease will be selected to receive treatment with Inclisiran, a drug used to treat cholesterol. Publicly available data sets will be used to identify the areas that have the poorest outcomes for cardiovascular disease so the new treatment can be offered to patients who will derive the most benefit from better cholesterol control.
In an effort to persuade more young people to be vaccinated against COVID-19, companies are offering an array of incentives including free taxi rides, holiday vouchers and discounts. According to NHS England data, 70% of 18- to 29-years-olds have now received at least one dose of the vaccine, compared with 90% of all adults. According to the ONS, 11% of 16 to 17-year-olds, 5% of 18 to 21-year-olds and 9% of 22 to 25-years-olds have expressed hesitancy about the vaccine, compared with 4% for the entire adult population.
Pharmacies are to take a central role in UK autumn vaccine boosters as hospital vaccination centres close in an effort to reduce NHS waiting lists. The booster programme is expected to start in September 2021, with COVID-19 and Flu vaccinations given to over-50s at the same time.

UK cinema box office takings in the month since all COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in England were half of their pre-pandemic level. According to Box office tracker Comscore, £65.7 million was spent on seeing films like Black Widow and Fast & Furious 9 in the four weeks after the lifting of restrictions on 19 July 2021. The figure for the corresponding weeks in 2019 was £129 million.
Gym and fitness centre membership numbers continue to rise as individuals look to exercise away from home after a year of lockdown. For instance, over the four months through June 2021, The Gym Group recorded almost a third increase in membership numbers to 730,000. Following this uptick, the group have plans to open 40 more establishments, possible also considering the empty high street shops.
Operators in the Gambling and Betting Activities industry have opted to impose spending limits on customers aged 25 and under in a bid to stop or prevent problem gambling. For the small number of customers who can demonstrate income to sustain an increased level of spend, they will need to go through a detailed process before an alternative limit is set.
The British government is currently undertaking a review of The Gambling Act 2005, the basis for all gambling regulation, in order to test its fitness for the digital age. According to the Gambling Commission, while fewer people were gambling during the pandemic, many already engaged online gambling consumers were expanding into new activities and spending more time and money betting.
The Gambling Commission has submitted proposals for affordability checks, an issue that is currently being evaluated in the review of the Gambling Act 2005, which was launched in December 2020. The proposal states that a monthly net gambling loss of as little as £100 would result in bettors having to prove their income to be able to continue to bet. However, the British racing industry has warned the sport would lose at least £60 million a year from lost levy and media rights if consumers were discouraged from gambling due to intrusive financial questioning.

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