The United Kingdom's economy grew by 1.1 percent in 2024, after a growth rate of 0.3 percent in 2023, 5.1 percent in 2022, 8.5 percent in 2021, and a record ten percent fall in 2020. During the provided time period, the biggest annual fall in gross domestic product before 2020 occurred in 2009, when the UK economy contracted by 4.6 percent at the height of the global financial crisis of the late 2000s. Before 2021, the year with the highest annual GDP growth rate was 1973, when the UK economy grew by 6.5 percent. UK economy growing but GDP per capita falling In 2022, the UK's GDP per capita amounted to approximately 37,371 pounds, with this falling to 37,028 pounds in 2023, and 36,977 pounds in 2024. While the UK economy as a whole grew during this time, the UK's population grew at a faster rate, resulting in the negative growth in GDP per capita. This suggests the UK economy's struggles with productivity are not only stagnating, but getting worse. The relatively poor economic performance of the UK in recent years has not gone unnoticed by the electorate, with the economy consistently seen as the most important issue for voters since 2022. Recent shocks to UK economy In the second quarter of 2020, the UK economy shrank by a record 20.3 percent at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there was a relatively swift economic recovery initially, the economy has struggled to grow much beyond its pre-pandemic size, and was only around 3.1 percent larger in December 2024, when compared with December 2019. Although the labor market has generally been quite resilient during this time, a long twenty-month period between 2021 and 2023 saw prices rise faster than wages, and inflation surge to a high of 11.1 percent in October 2022.

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The fastest growing economy in Europe in 2024 was Malta. The small Mediterranean country's gross domestic product grew at five percent in 2024, beating out Montenegro which had a growth rate of almost four percent and the Russian Federation which had a rate of 3.6 percent in the same year. Estonia was the country with the largest negative growth in 2024, as the Baltic country's economy shrank by 0.88 percent compared with 2023, largely as a result of the country's exposure to the economic effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent economic sanctions placed on Russia. Germany, Europe's largest economy, experience economic stagnation with a growth of 0.1 percent. Overall, the EU (which contains 27 European countries) registered a growth rate of one percent and the Eurozone (which contains 20) grew by 0.8 percent.

The Global Savory Snacks market in 2015 was valued at US$94.5 billion and is expected to post a value CAGR of 7.9% and per capita value CAGR of 7.1% during 2015–2020. Growth in the global market is expected to come mainly from the developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region followed by the East European regions, while countries in the Latin American region are expected to register marginal growth. Booming population in Asia-Pacific regions coupled with healthy economic outlook presents a significant opportunity for growth of Savory Snacks market. In developed markets (such as the US, the UK and France), novelty is crucial and consumers look for exotic and different flavors in Savory Snacks while in developing markets (such as Brazil, China and India) novel products as well as value deals remain high in demand. The Global Savory Snacks market is highly fragmented with the top 5 brands holding less than 16% of the combined market share. Lay’s, Doritos, Pringles, Cheats and Ruffles are the leading brands with the highest market share in 2015. Hypermarkets & Supermarkets is the leading retail channel for Savory Snacks across all regions followed by Convenience Stores. Flexible Packaging is the most commonly used packaging material in the Global Savory Snacks market accounting for majority of the market share. Read More

The Chinese economy continued to expand in 2019, buoyed by booming tourism, rising exports, and increasing private investment. Moreover, per capita disposable income also increased by 8.9% in nominal terms during the year. These factors positively impacted the demand for beer and ciders in the country. However, GDP growth in China decelerated from 6.6% in 2018 to 6.1% in 2019, weakened by its trade disputes with the U.S. Read More

In 2024, there were approximately ** million millennials in the United Kingdom, making it the largest generational cohort at that time. Millennials surpassed the Baby Boomer generation as the largest generation for the first time in 2019. The two youngest generations, Gen Z and Gen Alpha, numbered approximately **** million, and ****million respectively. Gen X are, as of the most recent year, the second-largest generation in the UK at ** million people. The population born before the end of the Second World War in mid-1945 was just over **** million in this year. Post-War Baby Boom The baby boomer generation was the largest generation for much of this period due to the spike in births that happened after the Second World War. In 1947, for example, there were over *** million live births in the United Kingdom, compared with just ******* live births just thirty years later in 1977. Members of this generation are typically the parents of millennials, and were the driving force behind the countercultural movement of the 1960s, due to their large numbers relative to older generations at the time. The next generational cohort after Boomers are Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980. This generation had fewer members than the Boomer generation for most of its existence, and only became larger than it in 2021. Millennials and Gen Z As of 2024, the most common single year of age in the United Kingdom was 33, with approximately ******* people this age. Furthermore, people aged between 30 and 34 were the most numerous age group in this year, at almost *** million people. As of 2024, people in this age group were Millennials, the large generation who came of age in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Many members of this generation entered the workforce following the 2008 financial crash, and suffered through high levels of unemployment during the early 2010s. The generation that followed Millennials, Generation Z, have also experienced tough socio-economic conditions recently, with key formative years dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and an increasingly unstable geopolitical situation.

In the United Kingdom, the crude birth rate in 1800 was 37 live births per thousand people, meaning that 3.7 percent of the population had been born in that year. From 1800 until 1830, the crude birth rate jumped between 35 and 45, before plateauing between 35 and 37 until the 1880s. From 1880 until the Second World War, the crude birth rate dropped to just under fifteen births per one thousand people, with the only increase coming directly after World War One. After WWII, the United Kingdom experienced a baby boom, as many soldiers returned home and the economy recovered, however this boom stopped in the late 1960s and the crude birth rate went into decline again. From the late 1970s until today, the crude birth rate has remained between eleven and fourteen, and is expected to be 11.5 in 2020.

The fertility rate of a country is the average number of children that women from that country would have throughout their reproductive years. In the United Kingdom in 1800, the average woman of childbearing age would have five children over the course of their lifetime. Over the next 35 years the fertility rate was quite sporadic, rising to over 5.5 in the 1810s and 1820s, then dropping to 4.9 by 1835. This was during and after the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 with the US, which was a time of increased industrialization, economic depression and high unemployment after the war. As things became more stable, and the 'Pax Britannica' (a period of relative, international peace and economic prosperity for the British Empire) came into full effect, the fertility rate plateaued until 1880, before dropping gradually until the First World War. The fertility rate then jumped from 2.6 to 3.1 children per woman between 1915 and 1920, as many men returned from the war. It then resumed it's previous trajectory in the interwar years, before increasing yet again after the war (albeit, for a much longer time than after WWI), in what is known as the 'Baby Boom'. Like the US, the Baby Boom lasted until around 1980, where it then fell to 1.7 children per woman, and it has remained around this number (between 1.66 and 1.87) since then.

In 2024, global retail e-commerce sales reached an estimated ************ U.S. dollars. Projections indicate a ** percent growth in this figure over the coming years, with expectations to come close to ************** dollars by 2028. World players Among the key players on the world stage, the American marketplace giant Amazon holds the title of the largest e-commerce player globally, with a gross merchandise value of nearly *********** U.S. dollars in 2024. Amazon was also the most valuable retail brand globally, followed by mostly American competitors such as Walmart and the Home Depot. Leading e-tailing regions E-commerce is a dormant channel globally, but nowhere has it been as successful as in Asia. In 2024, the e-commerce revenue in that continent alone was measured at nearly ************ U.S. dollars, outperforming the Americas and Europe. That year, the up-and-coming e-commerce markets also centered around Asia. The Philippines and India stood out as the swiftest-growing e-commerce markets based on online sales, anticipating a growth rate surpassing ** percent.