The long record
The British Story
Where Britain was, and where it is — told only by the official numbers. Each chapter below is a complete national archive: scrub any chart to read any year. Faint vertical marks are years the economy shrank. Nothing here is opinion; every figure links to the record it came from.
The size of the economy
GDP, chained volume, seasonally adjusted · 1948 to 2025
In 1948, as post-war rebuilding began, the economy's real size was £455bn in today's chained terms. In 2025 it is £2.82tn — 6.2 times larger in real terms.
£2.82tn in 2025
1948 – 2030 · scrub to read any year
Dashed: obr forecast (march 2026), 2026–2030.
£455bn
Real size in 1948
£2.82tn
Real size in 2025
6.2×
Real growth, 1948 to 2025
Source: Office for National Statistics, series ABMI / PN2 — official archive. Projection: Office for Budget Responsibility, Economic and fiscal outlook, March 2026 — published forecast.
Growth, year on year
GDP annual growth, chained volume · 1949 to 2025
Growth is the rhythm of the story: 7 years in the red since 1949, each one visible below. The deepest fall was -10% in 2020; the strongest year was 2021 at +8.5%.
1.4% in 2025
1949 – 2030 · scrub to read any year
Dashed: obr forecast (march 2026), 2026–2030.
-10%
Deepest fall (2020)
+8.5%
Strongest year (2021)
7
Years of contraction since 1949
Source: Office for National Statistics, series IHYP / PN2 — official archive. Projection: Office for Budget Responsibility, Economic and fiscal outlook, March 2026 — published forecast.
Out of work
Unemployment rate, aged 16 and over, seasonally adjusted · 1971 to 2025
Work, measured the same way for over half a century. Unemployment was 4.1% in 1971, peaked at 11.8% in 1984, touched its record low of 3.7% in 1973, and stands at 4.8% for 2025.
4.8% in 2025
1971 – 2030 · scrub to read any year
Dashed: obr forecast (march 2026), 2026–2030.
11.8%
Peak (1984)
3.7%
Record low (1973)
4.8%
Latest (2025)
Source: Office for National Statistics, series MGSX / LMS — official archive. Projection: Office for Budget Responsibility, Economic and fiscal outlook, March 2026 — published forecast.
The cost of living
CPIH annual inflation rate, all items · 1989 to 2025
The cost of living on the modern measure, which begins in 1989 — it does not reach further back, and we do not pretend otherwise. Inflation peaked at 8% in 1990, fell as low as 0.4% in 2015, and stands at 3.9% for 2025.
3.9% in 2025
1989 – 2030 · scrub to read any year
Dashed: obr forecast (march 2026), 2026–2030.
8%
Peak (1990)
0.4%
Lowest (2015)
3.9%
Latest (2025)
Source: Office for National Statistics, series L55O / MM23 — official archive. Projection: Office for Budget Responsibility, Economic and fiscal outlook, March 2026 — published forecast.
About the dashed lines
The dashed segments are the Office for Budget Responsibility's published forecast (March 2026), shown exactly as published — the same measures as the history they extend, with source and vintage on every chart. Forecasts are the OBR's judgement, not ours, and not a promise: the OBR publishes its own record of how past forecasts compared with what happened. Britain Next never adds predictions of its own.