Library & Cultural Services: Economics: Great Britain

Introduction

In addition to the major resources listed on this page, the Albert Sloman Library has fairly extensive historical holdings of UK statistical series.

For a list, with links to online where available, please see Word document below:

Detailed list of UK economic statistics

General

Adam Smith Institute
UK free-market think tank.
Centre for Economic Performance
Policy oriented research centre established in 1990 at LSE
Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
UK's pre-eminent centre for economic analysis. Research also covers European & global issues. Library subscribes to the important discussion paper series. Very useful Vox EU blog
Economics Observatory
Project that bridges the gap between academic research, government policy and the general public. Aims to provide balanced, accessible and reliable answers to the economic questions that Covid-19 and its aftermath bring. The ECO team are drawn from across the UK
ESCOE Historical Data UK
Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence, is a consortium advising the ONS on statistical measurement of the UK economy. ESCOE, Bank of England & ONS have partnered to provide a wide range of UK economic & financial historical data back to the Middle Ages in some cases. This is a fantastic data resource for UK economic history
Institute for Fiscal Studies
Britain's leading independent microeconomic research institute.
Institute of Economic Affairs
The UK's premier free market think-tank, founded in 1955. Full text of its publications are freely available online from 2001 onwards. see especially its Paragon Initiative - a 5 year study of UK public policy from 2015-
National Institute of Social & Economic Research
Long established policy institute. The National Institute economic review 1959- HB 1.N2 and Online (1959-) has forecasts for the UK, world, and selected key economies.
New Economics Foundation
Independent progressive think tank concerned with economic well-being & quality of life. Full text of all publications freely available.
Office for National Statistics
UK body for official statistics. See especially the People, Population & Community theme.
Progressive Economy Forum
Established in 2018 by economists and others opposed to the prevailing neoliberal, laissez-faire macroeconomic policies. Many publications free to access
Resolution Foundation
Independent think-tank, working across a wide range of economic and social policy to improve the living standards of those on low-to-middle incomes. Established programmes include incomes and inequality; jobs, skills and pay; housing, wealth and debt; tax and welfare; public finances and the economy. More recently: work on trade, net zero and productivity, and covering through an intergenerational and cities lens, as well as coordinating the "Economy 2030" inquiry.

Business. Industry. Retail. Sustainable Development

See also the Library subject guide to Business for details of further resources

British Retail Consortium
Has some useful statistics & reports on the UK retail sector
Dept. for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
The department offers a range of Statistical Data. See also the policy area for Business Enterprise and Research and Development, which looks at Innovation and the non-departmental body Innovate UK which works alongside the Dept. The Community Innovation Survey provides useful statistics on UK small business innovation. Past SME's statistics from the previous Department for Business, Innovation and Skills are also available.
Grace's Guide to British Industrial History
Historical Trade Directories of England & Wales
Digitised from Leicester University Library's special collections, covers 1760-1919.
Low Carbon & Renewable Energy Economy
The LCREE survey of UK businesses (2014-) provides annual estimates of low carbon and renewable energy economy activity in the UK relating to turnover, employment, exports, imports, acquisitions, disposals and number of businesses
ONS Business, Industry & Trade
Official UK business statistics from the Office for National Statistics
UK Data Service Business Microdata
ONS microdata from surveys (secure access through UKDS only)

Finance. Banking. Investments

See also the Library subject guide to Finance for details of further resources

The Bank of England

The Bank of England is a very useful source of publications and data on monetary policy, inflation, and financial stability.

See its Research Datasets and Statistics web pages which offer historical and current data sets.

London Stock Exchange
Stock Exchange Yearbook (1875-2011)

Annual directory at HF 1.S8 (various titles, some in store or on microfilm). Ceased publication
Stock Exchange Yearbook (1875-2011)
This directory at HF 1.S8 (various titles, some in store or on microfilm) includes two potentially useful lists, a list of company name changes and a list of deletions since the previous edition of the yearbook. The latter also provides the reason for removal from the list such as takeover, winding up, delisting or merger.

Household & Labour Economics. Personal Finance & Taxation. Financial Inclusion

Access to Cash Review
Independent review of the UKs need for cash in the years ahead (final report, March 2019)
Faster Payments
Firm with data on cashless transactions in the UK from 2008- . Now, with others, part of Pay UK - https://www.wearepay.uk
Financial Capability Survey
Occasional survey on all aspects of household finances from the Money & Pensions Service, commenced 2015, data available through UK Data Service
Toynbee Hall
Based in the East End since 1884, Toynbee Hall works alongside people facing poverty and injustice to build a fairer and happier East London.
Financial Inclusion Commission
HMRC Tax Structure & Parameters
Historical summary tables for income tax (1948-) and national insurance (1975-). More detailed data is available from the HMRC annual Survey of Personal Incomes
Institute for Employment Studies
IES was established in 1968 as an independent, national centre of expertise on productivity, manpower planning and the labour market and human resources more broadly. Publications freely available
LINK
Cash machine provider, offers some research
Nomis
Official labour market statistics for the UK, derived from the Labour Force Survey and other major sources. Really useful for sub-national data at various geographical levels
ONS Employment & Labour Market
See useful guide: A guide to labour market statistics by R. Clegg Online (2016, regularly updated).
Payment Systems Regulator
Oversees the UK payment systems industry. Some useful publications on the rise of automated/cashless payments
Pensions & Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA)
Formerly National Association of Pension Funds, the voice of workplace pensions. Other organisations with interests in this area include the TUC, IFS, and ONS.
UK Data Service
Based at the University of Essex, UKDS holds the largest collection of social science digital data in the UK. Some relevant & ongoing surveys include: Labour Force Survey ; Living Costs & Food Survey; Understanding Society. Browse by theme or key data to get an idea of the main data sets available.
UK Finance
New body representing organisations in the banking, credit & payments sector. Unfortunately data is mostly for members only. Some can be found on legacy sites like the UK Cards Association
Understanding Society : the UK Household Longitudinal Study
Contains micro level survey data about individuals and households relating to employment and other socio-economic variables. Includes recent (Sept. 2021) job search module, see article here:
https://voxeu.org/article/job-search-and-mismatch-during-covid-19-pandemic
Women's Budget Group
Academics & campaigners aiming to ensure economic policy promotes gender equality

Public Finance

HM Revenue & Customs
In addition to the online resources, the Library holds historical print series, notably Inland Revenue Statistics, 1970-2000, at HJ 2600
HM Treasury
Government department responsible for public finances. Includes Forecasts for the UK Economy (1986-), a monthly comparison of independent forecasts: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/data-forecasts
Institute for Fiscal Studies
Britain's leading independent microeconomic research institute.
Office for Budgetary Responsibility
Official body created 2010 to provide independent analysis of the nation's finances
ONS UK Economic Accounts
Extensive dataset back to 1948 for some variables

The ONS offers a range of other publications & series, notably:

United Kingdom national accounts (Blue book) 1984-2004 HC 256.5 and Online (2000-).
Continuation of: National income and expenditure 1946/52-1983 HC 256.5

A good starting point for guidance is:

A short guide to the UK national accounts 2015 P. Lee et al Online

Or, for historical data:
National accounts statistics: sources and methods 1968, R. Maurice HJ 9925.G7

Good sources of commentary on the Treasury budgets/autumn statements are provided by the IFS, BBC, Economist.com, FT.com, the large accounting firms (BDO, KPMG, EY, PWC), Institute for Government, and others. House of Commons Library also publishes a research briefing -
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/type/research-briefing/

Public Accounts Committee
Parliamentary body with oversight of value for money and accountability of public funds. See also the National Audit Office

At a local level, the main publication is the Local Government Financial Statistics (England), online from 2000- with some earlier years held in print form by the Library.