United Kingdom
- GDP nominal: 2,988 billion USD
- Unemployment rate: 6.3%
- Population: 64 million
- Ease-of-doing-business rank: 6th
The UK is the 5th largest economy in the world and the second largest in Europe after Germany. The UK has been the fastest growing economy in the G7 for three consecutive years as of October 2015.
As a direct result of the recession, real wages in the UK fell by 3.2%. However as of 2015, real wages have grown by 3%. Since the 1980s, UK economic inequality, has grown faster than in other developed countries.
A report by the Office for National Statistics in May 2013 revealed that over the six-year period between 2005 and 2011, the UK dropped from 5th place to 12th in terms of household income on an international scale.
Direct Selling in United Kingdom
- GDP Growth Constant Local Currency 2014: 2.9%
- YoY Industry Growth Constant USD 2014: 10.9%
Direct Selling is a well-established and organized industry in United Kingdom representing 3.8B USD in 2014. Despite the growing competition from E-commerce, the industry has managed to grow continuously.
The UK Direct Selling industry is the fastest growing market in Europe over the last few years with a CAGR of 8.2%; it is the 3rd largest Direct Sales market in Europe after Germany and France and has become the 10th largest Direct Selling market in the world.
The UK is historically the preferred European destination of U.S based Direct Selling companies and in result this market benefits from new concepts and innovative products from the U.S. (the #1 company in the industry had opened its first European subsidiary in UK in 1973).
Multi-level marketing is the dominant compensation method and the Wellness category accounts for 40% of the products distributed through the channel. The vast and rich offer of Direct Selling, particularly during morose economic periods has made the industry an alternate way to earn one’s income.
The particularities of this market is that 25% of distributors are male, which is higher than most other countries. The UK has one company in the European Direct Selling top 10, which is a gas, electricity, internet, and telecommunications service provider.
We saw an increase of 50 year old and above direct sellers as well as the number of people working in the industry on a full time basis over the recent period.
Sources: ASENSHIA, World Bank, WFDSA, Euromonitor, Wikipedia
CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate expressed in Constant USD 2014, between 2011 and 2014
