UK living standards set to surpass US for first time in over a century

A new report by Oxford Economics consultancy has suggested that living standards in the UK are set to rise above those in the US for the first time since the 19th century.

London, Jan 6 : A new report by Oxford Economics consultancy has suggested that living standards in the UK are set to rise above those in the US for the first time since the 19th century.

According to the estimates, measured by gross domestic product per capita, Britain can now boast itself in the economic stakes after more than a century of playing second fiddle to the Americans.

The calculations suggest that GDP per head in Britain will be 23,500 pounds this year as compared to 23,250 pounds in America.

This indicates that not only the strength of the pound against the dollar but also British economy's record run of growth and rising incomes going back to the early 1990s.

According to Oxford Economics, at that time, Britain's GDP per capita was 34 percent below that in America, 33 percent less than in Germany and 26 percent lower than in France.

Now, not only have average incomes crept above those in the US but also they are more than 8 percent above France and Germany.

"The past 15 years have seen a dramatic change in the UK's economic performance and its position in the world economy. No longer are we the 'sick man of Europe,'" Times Online quoted Adrian Cooper, managing director of Oxford Economics, as saying.

"Indeed, our calculations suggest that UK living standards are now a match for those of the US," he added.

ANI