United Kingdom
Europe · Northern Europe
Finance and culture hub with great transit and a strong job market; housing is expensive.
Expat
Ideal destination
At a Glance
📈United Kingdom's Human Development Index
0.940
Very High human development#14 of 191 countries worldwide, #12 of 44 in Europe.
Higher than 93% of countries with data. UNDP Human Development Report.
UNDP builds the index from three dimensions: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable, and a decent standard of living. They are measured by life expectancy at birth, mean and expected years of schooling, and gross national income per capita.
Closest indicators in this dataset
World Bank, own vintages. UNDP’s own component values are not carried here, so these are related measures rather than the index inputs.
Nearest countries by HDI
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is a compact collection of nations, England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, each with a distinct culture, landscape, and temperament, bound together by a shared history of remarkable reach and a language that has become the world's common tongue. The countryside from the Scottish Highlands and the Welsh valleys to the English Lake District and the Cornish coast is genuinely beautiful, and the cities, particularly London, Edinburgh, and Manchester, have a cultural density hard to match. Those who can see past the grey skies and self-deprecating humour will find a culture of great warmth and surprising depth.
- One of only three countries without a written constitution.
- Invented the World Wide Web, then watched the US turn it into a product.
- Drives on the left — a colonial export that outlasted the empire.
Quick Facts
Capital
London
Language
English
Currency
£ GBP
Area
241,930 km²
Nomad Hub
Fixed Broadband
167Mbps
Mobile
74Mbps
GDP / Capita
$58K
PPP / Capita
$65K
Inflation
3.9%
Unemployment
4.7%
Innovation (GII)
59.1
GNI / Capita
$55K
Tax Revenue
26.9%
FDI Inflows
1.9%
Education Spend
5.9%
Cost of Living
67.8
Price Level Index
8th pct
20-Year Trend + IMF Forecast
Income & inflation over time
HDI since 1990
0.804 → 0.940 (+0.136)Year by year →UNDP Human Development Report, 2023-24 edition. 33 annual values, none interpolated; hover any point for its year.
Twenty years here
Year by year →The world report →World Bank observations, first to last available year per indicator (roughly 2005–2024; each series has its own window).
Thinking about United Kingdom for real?
The matcher weighs your budget, timeline and dealbreakers against the same data on this page, then answers with the places that actually fit.
Find your match →UK Regions deep dive
Where in the UK should you live?
Side-by-side comparison of 361 Local Authorities — pay, housing, crime, schools and deprivation. Switchable choropleth, "Picked for you" leaderboards, per-LA editorial on the places we know well.
Settling here
Where to live is the half this page covers. The other half is paperwork: a test to pass, and a residence count that has to survive someone checking it. Most people piece those dates together long after the fact and get them wrong. That part sits on InboxTrace, which we also built.
Neighbouring Countries
United Kingdom head-to-head
💬Quick answers
What is United Kingdom's Human Development Index?
United Kingdom's Human Development Index is 0.940 (UNDP Human Development Report), ranked #14 of 191 countries.
Is United Kingdom safe?
United Kingdom scores 1.73 on the Global Peace Index (lower is more peaceful), ranked #39 of 160 countries by the Institute for Economics & Peace. That measures national-level peace, not street crime; both are covered below.
How expensive is United Kingdom?
Numbeo's cost-of-living index puts United Kingdom at 67.8 (New York = 100); that is #124 cheapest of 143 countries with data.
What is life expectancy in United Kingdom?
Life expectancy at birth in United Kingdom is 81.4 yrs (World Bank), ranked #36 of 195 countries.
What is the quality of life in United Kingdom?
Numbeo's quality-of-life index scores United Kingdom at 175.9, ranked #22 of 87 countries with data. It composites purchasing power, safety, healthcare, cost of living, commute and pollution from resident surveys, so it reflects what residents report rather than what an economy produces.