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 to 2030 · scrub to read any year
Dashed: OBR forecast (March 2026), 2026 to 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.
GDP per person
GDP per head, current prices, seasonally adjusted · 1955 to 2025
GDP per person shows the same growth spread across a changing population: £376 in 1955, and £43,661 in 2025. This is the average value produced per person, not household income or take-home pay.
£43,661 in 2025
1955 to 2025 · scrub to read any year
£376
Per person, 1955
£43,661
Per person, 2025
2025
Peak year
Source: Office for National Statistics, series IHXT / PN2, official archive.
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%.
1.3% in 2025
1949 to 2030 · scrub to read any year
Dashed: OBR forecast (March 2026), 2026 to 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 4.9% for 2025.
4.9% in 2025
1971 to 2030 · scrub to read any year
Dashed: OBR forecast (March 2026), 2026 to 2030.
11.8%
Peak (1984)
3.7%
Record low (1973)
4.9%
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 to 2030 · scrub to read any year
Dashed: OBR forecast (March 2026), 2026 to 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.