As a member of the EU the UK is part of the world’s largest single market — an economic zone larger than that of the USA and Japan combined, with a total GDP of around £11 trillion. The single market of 500 million people provides a relatively level playing field for British businesses to trade in. This enables not just free trade in terms of the absence of customs duties or tariffs but a common set of rules so that business does not have to comply with 27 different sets of regulations.
The UK government’s Department of Business, Innovation and Skills estimates that increased trade with other members of the EU since the 1980s has been worth about 6% higher income per capita in the UK. The business department estimates that 3.5 million jobs in Britain are linked, directly or indirectly, to the UK’s trade with other member states.
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