In early-February 2020, the first cases of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom (UK) were confirmed. The number of cases in the UK increased significantly at the end of 2021. On January 13, 2023, the number of confirmed cases in the UK amounted to 24,243,393. COVID deaths among highest in Europe There were 202,157 confirmed coronavirus deaths in the UK as of January 13, 2023. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Current infection rate in Europe The current infection rate in the UK was 50 cases per 100,000 population in the last seven days as of January 16. San Marino had the highest seven day rate of infections in Europe at 336.

Introduction: The first reported UK case of COVID-19 occurred on 30 January 2020. A lockdown from 24 March was partially relaxed on 10 May. One model to forecast disease spread depends on clinical parameters and transmission rates. Output includes the basic reproduction number R0 and the log growth rate r in the exponential phase.Methods: Office for National Statistics data on deaths in England and Wales is used to estimate r. A likelihood for the transmission parameters is defined from a gaussian density for r using the mean and standard error of the estimate. Parameter samples from the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm lead to an estimate and credible interval for R0 and forecasts for cases and deaths.Results: The UK initial log growth rate is r = 0.254 with s.e. 0.004. R0 = 6.94 with 95% CI (6.52, 7.39). In a 12 week lockdown from 24 March with transmission parameters reduced throughout to 5% of their previous values, peaks of around 90,000 severely and 25,000 critically ill patients, and 44,000 cumulative deaths are expected by 16 June. With transmission rising from 5% in mid-April to reach 30%, 50,000 deaths and 475,000 active cases are expected in mid-June. Had such a lockdown begun on 17 March, around 30,000 (28,000, 32,000) fewer cumulative deaths would be expected by 9 June.Discussion: The R0 estimate is compatible with some international estimates but over twice the value quoted by the UK government. An earlier lockdown could have saved many thousands of lives.

Provisional counts of the number of deaths registered in England and Wales, by age, sex, region and Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), in the latest weeks for which data are available.

August 2024 marked a significant shift in the UK's monetary policy, as it saw the first reduction in the official bank base interest rate since August 2023. This change came after a period of consistent rate hikes that began in late 2021. In a bid to minimize the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank of England cut the official bank base rate in March 2020 to a record low of 0.1 percent. This historic low came just one week after the Bank of England cut rates from 0.75 percent to 0.25 percent in a bid to prevent mass job cuts in the United Kingdom. It remained at 0.1 percent until December 2021 and was increased to one percent in May 2022 and to 2.25 percent in October 2022. After that, the bank rate increased almost on a monthly basis, reaching 5.25 percent in August 2023. It wasn't until August 2024 that the first rate decrease since the previous year occurred, signaling a potential shift in monetary policy. Why do central banks adjust interest rates? Central banks, including the Bank of England, adjust interest rates to manage economic stability and control inflation. Their strategies involve a delicate balance between two main approaches. When central banks raise interest rates, their goal is to cool down an overheated economy. Higher rates curb excessive spending and borrowing, which helps to prevent runaway inflation. This approach is typically used when the economy is growing too quickly or when inflation is rising above desired levels. Conversely, when central banks lower interest rates, they aim to encourage borrowing and investment. This strategy is employed to stimulate economic growth during periods of slowdown or recession. Lower rates make it cheaper for businesses and individuals to borrow money, which can lead to increased spending and investment. This dual approach allows central banks to maintain a balance between promoting growth and controlling inflation, ensuring long-term economic stability. Additionally, adjusting interest rates can influence currency values, impacting international trade and investment flows, further underscoring their critical role in a nation's economic health. Recent interest rate trends Between 2021 and 2024, most advanced and emerging economies experienced a period of regular interest rate hikes. This trend was driven by several factors, including persistent supply chain disruptions, high energy prices, and robust demand pressures. These elements combined to create significant inflationary trends, prompting central banks to raise rates in an effort to temper spending and borrowing. However, in 2024, a shift began to occur in global monetary policy. The European Central Bank (ECB) was among the first major central banks to reverse this trend by cutting interest rates. This move signaled a change in approach aimed at addressing growing economic slowdowns and supporting growth.

The crime rate in the United Kingdom was highest in England and Wales in 2023/24, at 89.7 crimes per 1,000 people, compared with Scotland which had 55 crimes per 1,000 population and Northern Ireland, at 52.3 crimes per 1,000 people. During this time period, the crime rate of England and Wales has usually been the highest in the UK, while Scotland's crime rate has declined the most, falling from 93.4 crimes per 1,000 people in 2002/03, to just 52.3 by 2021/22. Overall crime on the rise In 2022/23 there were approximately 6.74 million crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales, with this falling to 6.66 million in 2023/24. Although crime declined quite significantly between 2002/03 and 2013/14, this trend has been reversed in subsequent years. While there are no easy explanations for the recent uptick in crime, it is possible that reduced government spending on the police service was at least partly to blame. In 2009/10 for example, government spending on the police stood at around 19.3 billion pounds, with this cut to between 17.58 billion and 16.35 billion between 2012/13 and 2017/18. One of the most visible consequences of these cuts was a sharp reduction in the number of police officers in the UK. As recently as 2019, there were just 150,000 police officers in the UK, with this increasing to 171,000 by 2023. A creaking justice system During the period of austerity, the Ministry of Justice as a whole saw its budget sharply decline, from 9.1 billion pounds in 2009/10, to just 7.35 billion by 2015/16. Although there has been a reversal of the cuts to budgets and personnel in the justice system, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the depleted service hard in 2020. A backlog of cases grew rapidly, putting a strain on the ability of the justice system to process cases quickly. As of the first quarter of 2023, for example, it took on average 676 days for a crown court case to go from offence to conclusion, compared with 412 days in 2014. There is also the issue of overcrowding in prisons, with the number of prisoners in England and Wales dangerously close to operational capacity in recent months.

Out of the films classified in the United Kingdom in 2022, 425 were considered suitable for viewers aged 15 years and over. In 2019, before the pandemic, over 1.1 thousand films were rated.

The risk-free rate is a theoretical rate of return of an investment with zero risk of financial loss. This rate represents the minimum interest an investor would expect from a risk-free investment over a period of time. It is important to remember that the risk-free rate is only theoretical as all investments carry even the smallest of risks. Across European countries, average risk-free rates differed quite significantly.

United Kingdom is low risk and low reward

When average risk-free rates on a theoretical investment with no risk is high, like seen in Turkey and Ukraine, the opportunity for high reward investments must seem tempting. But with high rewards come higher risks. Countries such as the UK and Germany has consistently shown low risk-free rates due to their investment markets’ relative stability.

Market risk premiums

Market risk premiums (MRP) are a measure that is closely associated with average risk-free rates. MRPs are a measurement of the expected return on investment an investor looks to make. For potential investors looking to add to their portfolio, the perfect scenario for a risk-based investment would be a high rate of return with as small a risk as possible. There are three main concepts to MRPs, including required market risk premiums, historical market risk premiums and expected market risk premiums. Like average risk-free rates, MRPs vary quite widely across Europe.

The benchmark interest rate in the United Kingdom was last recorded at 4.50 percent. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Interest Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Just as in many other countries, the housing market in the UK grew substantially during the coronavirus pandemic, fueled by robust demand and low borrowing costs. Nevertheless, high inflation and the increase in mortgage rates has led to house price growth slowing down. According to the forecast, 2024 is expected to see house prices decrease by three percent. Between 2024 and 2028, the average house price growth is projected at 2.7 percent. A contraction after a period of continuous growth In June 2022, the UK's house price index exceeded 150 index points, meaning that since 2015 which was the base year for the index, house prices had increased by 50 percent. In just two years, between 2020 and 2022, the index surged by 30 index points. As the market stood in December 2023, the average price for a home stood at approximately 284,691 British pounds. Rents are expected to continue to grow According to another forecast, the prime residential market is also expected to see rental prices grow in the next years. Growth is forecast to be stronger in 2024 and slow down in the period between 2025 and 2028. The rental market in London is expected to follow a similar trend, with Central London slightly outperforming Greater London.

Between 2021 and 2024, the homicide rate for people of the Black ethnic group was 39.8 homicides per million population in England and Wales, far higher than that of the white ethnic group, which was 8.5 victims per million population for the same time period.

The average house price in England started to increase in the first half of 2024, after falling by over three percent year-on-year in December 2023. In June 2024, the house price index amounted to 149.7 index points, suggesting an increase in house prices of 2.4 percent since the same month in 2023 and a roughly 50 percent rise since 2015 - the baseline year for the index. Among the different regions in the UK, West and East Midlands experienced the strongest growth.

Police recorded crime figures by Police Force Area and Community Safety Partnership areas (which equate in the majority of instances, to local authorities).

This repository is the second updated version of the attribute-linked residential property price dataset in UK Data Service ReShare 854240 (https://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/854240/). As with the first updated version (ReShare 855033 https://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/855033/) in 2021, this updated dataset contains individual property transactions and associated variables from both Land Registry Price Paid Dataset (LR PPD) and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) Domestic Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data. This is a linked result by address matching between LR-PPD data (1/1/1995-27/6/2022) and Domestic EPCs data (the twelfth version: ending with 30/6/2022). It is the whole of the 2022 update house price per square metre dataset published in the Greater London Authority (GLA) London Datastore (https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/house-price-per-square-metre-in-england-and-wales).

The linked dataset in this repository is the uncorrected version, recording almost 20 million transactions with 106 variables in England and Wales between 1/1/1995 and 27/6/2022. We have offered technical validation and data cleaning code in UKDA ReShare 854240 to help users to evaluate the representation and to clean up the data. There is no unique way to clean this raw linked dataset, so we suggest users develop their own clean-up process based on their research requirements. In addition, this repository covers the original LR PPD and Domestic EPCs for the linked data (house price per square metre dataset). Similar to the first updated version, a field header has been added in LR PPD. Six variables (individual lodgement identifier, address, address 1, address 2, address 3, postcode) in Domestic EPCs are removed. A newly created unique identifier (id) is added in Domestic EPCs, this id is newly created for Version 12 Domestic EPCs. It is not the same id as in the Domestic EPCs from UK Data Service ReShare 854240 and ReShare 855033. Since November 2021 DLUCH has published Domestic EPCs with the Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) hence the dataset in this repository contains the UPRN information from the Domestic EPCs.

In 2024, the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United Kingdom grew by 0.9 percent and is expected to grow by just one percent in 2025 and by 1.9 percent in 2026. Growth is expected to slow down to 1.8 percent in 2027, and then grow by 1.7, and 1.8 percent in 2027 and 2028 respectively. The sudden emergence of COVID-19 in 2020 and subsequent closure of large parts of the economy were the cause of the huge 9.4 percent contraction in 2020, with the economy recovering somewhat in 2021, when the economy grew by 7.6 percent. UK slips into recession in late 2023 In the last two quarters of 2023, the UK economy shrank by 0.1 percent in Q3 and by 0.3 percent in Q4, plunging the UK into recession for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. Even before this latest recession, however, the UK economy has been struggling with weak growth. In the eight quarters between 2022 and 2023, the economy grew in just half of them, falling in three, and stagnating in one. As the UK gears up for a likely general election in 2024, the economy has consistently been seen as one of the most important issues to people in Britain, ahead of health, immigration and the environment. As for which political party would handle the economy better, the ruling-Conservative party have trailed the Labour Party on this issue in polls since October 2022. High inflation persisting longer than expected One of the main factors that explains the UK's economic woes recently is rising prices. UK inflation accelerated sharply from late 2021 onwards, and reached a peak of 11.1 percent in October 2022. Unfortunately for UK residents, wage growth has only recently caught up with inflation, with wages in real terms falling throughout for twenty months between November 2021 and June 2023. By January 2024, inflation had fallen to the more modest rate of four percent, but getting inflation down to such levels came at a price. The Bank of England raised interest rates throughout 2022 and 2023, which certainly played a part in the UK's weak economic performance during that time.

Graph and download economic data for Daily Sterling Overnight Index Average (SONIA) Rate (IUDSOIA) from 1997-01-02 to 2025-03-21 about sonia, Sterling, overnight, average, interest rate, interest, rate, and indexes.

Land Registry Price Paid Data (PPD) have been published as open data since 2013. These data have been transformative for house price variation research in the UK as they are a comprehensive record of residential transactions at address level and cover the whole of England and Wales over a period dating back to 1995. Despite the utility of these data, a lack of attribute information relating to the properties, such as total floor area information, is identified as one of the major shortcomings of the PPD data. This means that the impacts of stock mix on broader price patterns cannot be fully accounted for. This research outlines one approach which addresses this deficiency by combining transaction information from the official open Land Registry Price Paid Data (PPD) with property size information form the official open Domestic Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs). A four-stage data linkage is created to generate a new linked dataset, representing 79% of the full market sales in the Land Registry PPD. This new linked dataset details 5,732,838 transactions in England and Wales between 2011 and 2019, along with each property's total floor area and the number of habitable rooms. Codes for other commonly used spatial units from Output Area to Local Authority are also included in the dataset. This offers greater flexibility for the exploration of house price variation in England and Wales at different spatial scales. The data collection includes the scripts used for linkage, as well as the resulting dataset.

Current residential house price variation research in the UK is limited by lack of an open and comprehensive house price database that contains both transaction price alongside dwelling attributes such as size. This research outlines one approach which addresses this deficiency in England and Wales through combining transaction information from the official open Land Registry Price Paid Data (PPD) and property size information form the official open Domestic Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs). A four-stage data linkage is created to generate a new linked data, representing 79% of the full market sales in Land Registry PPD. This new linked dataset offers greater flexibility for the exploration of house price (house price per square metre) variation in England and Wales at different spatial scales over postcode unit between 2011 and 2019.