United Kingdom

United Kingdom

Northern Europe

EuropeNon-EU
78
Overall score
Strong overall
Language
English
Currency
GBP
Citizenship
5–6 years (ILR + 12 months)
Personal tax
20 / 40 / 45% + National Insurance
Cost of living
£2,300 / mo (single)

A global English-speaking finance and tech centre with world-class universities and an Innovator Founder visa, though post-Brexit it lost EU free movement and abolished its non-dom regime in 2025.

Pros

  • Top financial & tech ecosystem
  • Innovator Founder & Global Talent visas
  • English; powerful passport

Cons

  • No EU free movement (Brexit)
  • High living costs & taxes
  • Non-dom regime abolished (2025)

Best for

Founders & finance professionalsSkilled workersEnglish-speaking students

Score profile

Status & mobility
Passport
95
Citizenship
71
Residence
66
Money & business
Taxes
50
Corporate tax
29
Business
57
Investment
78
Economy
77
Wealth building
66
Living, study & work
Education
93
Salary & work
71
Cost of living
41
Buying power
74
Quality of life
Safety
79
Healthcare
83
Infrastructure
80
HDI
95

Status & mobility

Passport

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any travel or visa decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Passport power
Excellent
95

Passport-index style mobility for the United Kingdom passport. The score above is its world reach: the share of 198 destinations reachable without a prior visa.

189 / 198
Mobility
#6
Global rank
Yes
Biometric
  • Visa-free142
  • On arrival38
  • eTA9
  • Visa required9

Passport Index style mobility data (2024–2025 estimate). Placeholder figures; verify current entry rules with each destination’s authority before travelling.

Citizenship

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any citizenship decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Citizenship accessibility
Good
71
Years required5 years to ILR, then 12 months before naturalisation (3 if married to a Briton)
Dual allowedtrue
LanguageEnglish (B1) + Life in the UK test
ResidenceIndefinite Leave to Remain held for 12 months; presence limits apply
NotesFrom April 2025 the remittance-basis non-dom regime was replaced by a residence-based FIG regime for new arrivals.
Residence

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any residence / visa decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Openness to residents
Good
66
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines how international the population already is (migrant stock at 45%), governance quality (regulatory quality at 25%), and the curated residence-pathway signal (30%). Available indicators are reweighted; the published values are shown below.

Migrant stock17.1% of population (2024)
Regulatory quality1.51 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Main pathways
Skilled Worker visaInnovator FounderGlobal TalentHigh Potential Individual
StudentStudent visa; 20 hrs/week term-time; Graduate route to work after.
WorkSkilled Worker visa via licensed sponsor + salary threshold.
Self-employedInnovator Founder visa (endorsed business) for entrepreneurs.
PermanentIndefinite Leave to Remain after ~5 years.

Money & business

Taxes

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any tax decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Tax friendliness
Moderate
50
Personal20% / 40% / 45% + National Insurance
Corporate25% (19% small-profits rate)
Capital gains18% / 24%
Dividends8.75% / 33.75% / 39.35%
Exit taxNo general individual exit tax
Foreign cosCFC rules apply
Personal tax

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any tax decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Personal tax
Low
18
Personal20% / 40% / 45% + National Insurance
FreelanceSole trader simple; IR35 rules govern disguised employment
Capital gains18% / 24%
Dividends8.75% / 33.75% / 39.35%
Exit taxNo general individual exit tax
Corporate tax

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any tax decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Corporate tax
Low
29
Corporate25% (19% small-profits rate)
Capital gains18% / 24%
Dividends8.75% / 33.75% / 39.35%
Foreign cosCFC rules apply
Business
Business friendliness
Moderate
57
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score leans on the two things founders ask about most: the tax burden (headline corporate rate at 20%, broader tax friendliness at 15%, and freedom from exit-tax / CFC rules at 10%) plus the regulatory and bureaucratic environment (regulatory quality 15%, government effectiveness 15%), on top of the curated company-rules signal (25%). Available indicators are reweighted; the values are shown below.

Regulation & bureaucracy
Regulatory quality1.51 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)
Government effectiveness1.18 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Rules & taxes
Foreign co.Yes: no nationality restriction
Local co.Ltd via Companies House online in ~24 hours
FreelanceSole trader simple; IR35 rules govern disguised employment
Corporate tax25% (19% small-profits rate)
Capital gains18% / 24%
Exit taxNo general individual exit tax
Foreign cosCFC rules apply
Investment

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any investment / tax decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Investing environment
Good
78
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score is mostly the investor-tax signal (capital-gains treatment, broker access, wealth tax, and ETF or other taxes on investment, 70%), lightly contextualised by equity-market depth (market cap / GDP at 18%) and credit depth (domestic credit to the private sector / GDP at 12%). Available indicators are reweighted.

Market cap97% of GDP (2022)
Private credit113% of GDP (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Capital gains18/24% CGT; ISAs and pensions shelter growth tax-free
DividendsData not available yet
ETFs & fundsData not available yet
Wealth taxNone
BrokersExcellent: Hargreaves Lansdown, Trading 212, Interactive Brokers
Foreign accessData not available yet
Tax-advantagedData not available yet
Economy
Economic strength
Good
77
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines income level (GDP and GNI per capita, output per worker), growth momentum (real GDP growth), price stability (inflation) and labour utilisation (unemployment). Available indicators are reweighted; the sector split and industry profile below are descriptive, not scored.

Output & income
GDP$3.7T (2024)
GDP / person$53,246 (2024)
GNI / person$61,460 PPP (2024)
GDP growth1.1% / yr (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Stability & labour
Inflation3.3% / yr (2024)
Unemployment4.7% (2025)
Output per worker$107,932 PPP (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Sector composition
Agriculture0.6% of GDP (2024)
Industry17.1% of GDP (2024)
Services72.4% of GDP (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Main industries
Financial servicesTechnologyCreative industriesPharmaceuticalsAerospaceEducation
Top exports
Financial & business servicesMachineryPharmaceuticalsCarsAircraft parts
TypeHigh-income, services- and finance-led
Key sectorsCity of London finance, Tech & fintech, Creative & professional services
SummaryA services-dominated economy anchored by global finance in London, with strong tech, pharma and creative sectors.
CurrencyPound sterling (a major reserve currency)
Wealth building

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any tax / investment decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Wealth accumulation
Good
66
How this score is calculated

How favourable United Kingdom is for building wealth: earnings and business/investment upside, tax drag, and how much a typical income keeps after living costs. Estimated from the factors below.

Salary & work
Excellent
86
Business
Moderate
62
Investment
Excellent
82
Tax friendliness
Moderate
50
Cost of living
Limited
41

Living, study & work

Education
Education score
Excellent
93
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines attainment (expected schooling at 30% and mean schooling at 25%) with participation (tertiary enrolment at 25%) and public investment (government education spending at 20%). Available indicators are reweighted; tuition and study rules remain separate profile fields below.

Attainment
Expected schooling17.8 years (2023)
Mean schooling13.5 years (2023)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025

Participation & investment
Tertiary enrolment80% gross (2023)
Education spending5.9% of GDP (2021)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Tuition£9,250 (home) / £20,000–38,000 (international)
Public uniHome students capped ~£9,250/yr; international far higher
LanguagesEnglish
Student work20 hrs/week term-time; Graduate visa (2 yrs) after study
Salary & work
Labour-market strength
Good
71
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines output per worker (a proxy for wage potential at 40%), unemployment (35%) and labour-force participation (25%). Available indicators are reweighted; the curated profile fields remain below.

Output per worker$107,932 PPP (2024)
Unemployment4.7% (2025)
Participation61.4% of 15+ (2025)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Mean monthly earnings of employees
Overall$2,795 · $3,538 PPP (2024)
Tech (IT & comms)$4,512 · $5,553 PPP (2024)

Source: ILOSTAT (International Labour Organization)

FreelanceLarge contracting market; IR35 affects engagements
Job marketLondon fintech/AI hub; Cambridge, Manchester, Edinburgh growing.
Cost of living
Affordability
Limited
41

Our 0–100 affordability score is derived from the local consumer price level (World Bank, US = 100): the cheaper everyday prices are, the higher it scores. Lower price level means your money goes further here.

Price level87 (US = 100) (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Rent£1,600–2,600 (1BR London)
Monthly£2,300
CitiesLondon, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol
Buying power
Purchasing power score
Good
74
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score estimates how far money goes for the typical person here. It combines GNI per capita at PPP (30%) and actual household consumption per person at PPP (15%) with a price-advantage term from the local price level (25%) that rewards lower prices, then adjusts for income equality via the Gini index (20%), so unequal economies don't ride a high average, plus price stability via consumer inflation (10%). Available indicators are reweighted; it is a comparison, not a personal budget estimate.

GNI / person$61,460 PPP (2024)
Consumption / person$35,625 PPP (2023)
Price level87 (US = 100) (2024)
Income inequality32.4 Gini (2021)
Inflation3.3% / yr (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Quality of life

Safety
Safety & stability
Good
79
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines personal safety (intentional homicide rate at 35%), institutional quality (rule of law at 25% and control of corruption at 20%), and political stability and absence of violence (20%). Available indicators are reweighted; the published values are shown below. Always check current government travel and security advice before relocating.

Personal safety
Homicide rate1.1 per 100,000 (2021)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Institutions & stability
Rule of law1.27 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)
Control of corruption1.51 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)
Political stability0.26 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Healthcare
Healthcare score
Excellent
83
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines health outcomes (life expectancy at 25% and under-5 mortality at 20%) with system capacity (physicians at 20% and hospital beds at 15% per 1,000 people) and health spending per capita (20%). Available indicators are reweighted; the published values are shown below.

Outcomes
Life expectancy81.4 years (2024)
Under-5 mortality4.7 per 1,000 births (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Capacity & resourcing
Physicians3.30 per 1,000 (2023)
Hospital beds2.42 per 1,000 (2022)
Health spending$6,606 PPP / person (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

System & costs
SystemUniversal public (NHS)
InsuranceNHS free at point of use; visa holders pay the IHS surcharge
Avg costImmigration Health Surcharge ~£1,035/yr per visa
Infrastructure
Infrastructure score
Excellent
80
How this score is calculated

The score combines digital access, resilience and download performance (30%), electricity access and network losses (30%), and transport infrastructure covering rail, logistics and aviation (40%). Available inputs are reweighted, but a country needs both digital and transport data to receive a score.

Digital infrastructure
Internet use95.5% (2024)
Internet resilience72 / 100 (2026)
Fixed speed84 / 100 download index (2026)
Mobile speed66 / 100 download index (2026)

Sources: World Bank World Development Indicators · Internet Society Pulse Internet Resilience Index

Utilities
Electricity access100.0% (2023)
Grid losses9.9% of output (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Transport
Transport quality3.70 / 5 (2022)
Rail density66.9 km / 1,000 km² (2021)
Air connectivity12,122 departures / million people (2023)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

HDI
Human development score
Excellent
95
How this score is calculated

The UN Human Development Index is the geometric mean of three dimension indices (a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living), shown on a 0–100 map scale (HDI × 100). The 2023 UNDP inputs behind each dimension are listed below.

HDI0.946 (2023)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025

Long & healthy life
Life expectancy81.3 years (2023)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025

Knowledge
Expected schooling17.8 years (2023)
Mean schooling13.5 years (2023)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025

Standard of living
GNI / person$54,372 PPP (2023)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025

Resources

Mock data for demonstration only. Not legal or tax advice.