Germany and Britain becoming surprisingly more similar

THE UK election on May 7 will confirm a phenomenon that many may find surprising, in view of Britain's non-membership of the euro and the debate on whether Britain should leave the European Union: Germany and Britain are becoming more similar.

They are the two largest economies in Europe, both heavily wedded to trade with the rest of the EU (57 per cent of Germany's goods and services trade in 2014, 49 per cent of Britain's). GDP in 2014 was US$3.86 trillion and US$2.95 trillion respectively, according to the IMF (against US$2.85 trillion for France, US$2.15 trillion for Italy). They have the two largest populations: 81.1 million and 64.5 million (63.9 million for France, 60 million for Italy, the IMF says). GDP per capita is almost the same: US$47,600 and US$45,700 (US$44,500 for France, US$35,800 for Italy).

Over the six years 2009-14, affected by the financial crisis, GDP in both countries has grown by an annual average 0.7 per cent. Unemployment is around the lowest in the EU: 5 per cent last year in Germany, 6.2 per cent in the UK (10.2 per cent in France, 12.8 per cent in Italy).