Editing Wales (section)

==Economy==
{{Main|Economy of Wales}}
[[File:Profile of Wales.png|thumb|right|A profile of the economy of Wales in 2012]]
[[File:This is Trade and Investment. This is Wales. Welsh Government video.webm|thumb|A 2021 introduction to some of the largest companies based in Wales, including: Airbus, bipsync, HCI Pharmaceutical, ReNeuron, Deloitte, Coaltown Coffee, DMM International and Freudenberg]]
Over the last 250 years, Wales has been transformed from a [[Agriculture in Wales|predominantly agricultural country]] to an industrial, and then to a [[post-industrial economy]].<ref>Davies (2008), pp. 233, 697; {{Cite book |last=Day |first=Graham |url=https://archive.org/details/makingsensewales00dayg |title=Making sense of Wales |publisher=University of Wales Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-7083-1771-6 |location=Cardiff |page=[https://archive.org/details/makingsensewales00dayg/page/n96 87] |url-access=limited}}</ref> In the 1950s, Wales's GDP was twice as big as Ireland's; by the 2020s, Ireland's economy was four times that of Wales. Since the Second World War, the [[service sector]] has come to account for the majority of jobs, a feature typifying most advanced economies.<ref>Davies (2008), p. 233–234</ref> in 2018, according to OECD and Eurostat data, gross domestic product (GDP) in Wales was £75&nbsp;billion, an increase of 3.3 per cent from 2017. GDP per head in Wales in 2018 was £23,866, an increase of 2.9 per cent on 2017. This compares to Italy's GDP/capita of £25,000, Spain £22,000, Slovenia £20,000 and New Zealand £30,000.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barry |first=Mark |date=4 January 2021 |title=The Environment, Tax and Wales |url=https://swalesmetroprof.blog/2021/01/04/the-environment-tax-and-wales/#_edn25 |access-date=13 January 2021 |website=swalesmetroprof.blog}}</ref><ref name="Nation Cymru">{{Cite news |last=Lloyd |first=Dai |date=14 November 2020 |title=Wales is not a global anomaly – it can be independent just like every other nation |publisher=Nation Cymru |url=https://nation.cymru/opinion/wales-is-not-a-global-anomaly-it-can-be-independent-just-like-every-other-nation/ |access-date=13 January 2021}}</ref> In the three months to December 2017, 72.7 per cent of working-age adults [[employment rate|were employed]], compared to 75.2 per cent across the UK as a whole.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Llywodraeth Cymru {{!}} Welsh Government |url=http://gov.wales/statistics-and-research/key-economic-statistics |access-date=24 February 2018 |website=gov.wales}}{{Dead link|date=January 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> For the 2018–19 fiscal year, the [[Welsh fiscal deficit]] accounts for 19.4 per cent of Wales's estimated GDP.<ref name="Cardiff">{{Cite news |date=2 July 2019 |title=Shortfall in public finances in Wales due to lower revenues, report finds |work=Cardiff University |url=https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/1523654-shortfall-in-public-finances-in-wales-due-to-lower-revenues,-report-finds |access-date=23 April 2020}}</ref>

In 2019, Wales was a net exporter of electricity. It produced 27.9 TWh of electricity while only consuming 14.7 TWh.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2021-01/energy-generation-in-wales-2019.pdf |title=Energy Generation in Wales 2019 |publisher=Regen; [[Welsh Government]] |quote=Wales is a net exporter of electricity, having consumed approximately 14.7 TWh (1) of electricity in 2019, while generating approximately 27.9 TWh.}}</ref> In 2021, the Welsh government said that more than half the country's energy needs were being met by renewable sources, 2 per cent of which was from 363 [[hydroelectric power|hydropower]] projects.<ref name="BBC210302">{{cite news |last=Duggan |first=Craig |date=2 March 2021 |title=Climate change: Private hydropower schemes 'on cliff edge' |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-56242378 |access-date=2 March 2021}}</ref>

By UK law, Wales contributes to items that do not directly benefit Wales e.g. over £5&nbsp;billion for [[HS2]] "which will damage the Welsh economy by £200m pa", according to the UK and Welsh Government's transport adviser Mark Barry. Wales also pays more in military costs than most similar-sized countries e.g. Wales pays twice the amount Ireland spends on the military.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Barry |first=Mark |date=7 January 2020 |title=Wales and HS2… |url=https://swalesmetroprof.blog/2020/01/07/wales-and-hs2/ |access-date=13 January 2021 |newspaper=Mark Barry}}</ref> The UK government spends £1.75bn per year on the military in Wales, which is almost as much as Wales spends on education every year (£1.8&nbsp;billion in 2018/19) and five times as much as the total amount spent on the police in Wales (£365&nbsp;million).<ref>{{cite web |title=IISS Military Balance 2020 |url=https://www.iiss.org/-/media/images/comment/military-balance-blog/2020/02/new-defence-budgets-and-expenditure-2019.jpg?h=586&la=en&mw=865&w=865&hash=FFC0A4DBDC2F9F9DF53D890823D6F0073CA75ABF |publisher=International Institute for Strategic Studies |access-date=20 January 2021 |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803180459/https://www.iiss.org/-/media/images/comment/military-balance-blog/2020/02/new-defence-budgets-and-expenditure-2019.jpg?h=586&la=en&mw=865&w=865&hash=FFC0A4DBDC2F9F9DF53D890823D6F0073CA75ABF |url-status=dead }}</ref>

From the middle of the 19th century until the post-war era, the mining and export of coal was the dominant industry. At its peak of production in 1913, nearly 233,000 men and women were employed in the [[South Wales coalfield]], mining 56 million tons of coal.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2002 |title=South Wales coalfield timeline |url=http://www.agor.org.uk/cwm/timeline.asp |access-date=11 September 2010 |publisher=University of Wales Swansea}}</ref> Cardiff was once the largest coal-exporting port in the world and, for a few years before the First World War, handled a greater tonnage of cargo than either London or Liverpool.<ref>{{cite news|title= Coal Exchange to 'stock exchange'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6586105.stm |publisher=BBC|access-date=11 October 2008|date=26 April 2007|work=[[BBC News]] website}}; {{Cite web |date=18 April 2007 |title=Coal and Shipping Metropolis of the World |url=http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/rhagor/article/1911/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105222219/http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/rhagor/article/1911/ |archive-date=5 January 2009 |access-date=11 October 2008 |website=[[Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales]] website |publisher=[[Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales]]}}</ref> In the 1920s, over 40 per cent of the male Welsh population worked in [[heavy industry]].<ref name="IWA 2003">{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Phil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6oXtL_7xFssC&pg=PA31 |title=The psychology of distance: Wales: one nation |date=September 2003 |publisher=[[Institute of Welsh Affairs]] |isbn=978-1-86057-066-7 |series=Papurau Gregynog |volume=3 |location=Cardiff |publication-date=2003 |page=31 |author-link=Phil Williams (Welsh politician)}}</ref> According to [[Phil Williams (Welsh politician)|Phil Williams]], the [[Great Depression]] "devastated Wales", north and south, because of its "overwhelming dependence on coal and steel".<ref name="IWA 2003" /> From the mid-1970s, the Welsh economy faced massive restructuring with large numbers of jobs in heavy industry disappearing and being replaced eventually by new ones in [[light industry]] and in services. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Wales was successful in attracting an above average share of [[foreign direct investment]] in the UK.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Massey |first=Glenn |date=August 2009 |title=Review of International Business Wales |url=http://wales.gov.uk/docs/det/publications/091013reviewofibwen.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091204133015/http://wales.gov.uk/docs/det/publications/091013reviewofibwen.pdf |archive-date=4 December 2009 |access-date=11 September 2010 |publisher=[[Welsh Government]] |page=10}}</ref> Much of the new industry was essentially of a "branch (or "screwdriver") factory" type where a manufacturing plant or call centre is in Wales but the most highly-paid jobs in the company are elsewhere.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Review of Local Economic and Employment Development Policy Approaches in OECD Countries |url=http://wales.gov.uk/docs//dfm/research/090617oecden.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20110222124621/http://wales.gov.uk/docs//dfm/research/090617oecden.pdf |archive-date=22 February 2011 |access-date=11 September 2010 |website=OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme |publisher=OECD |page=8}}</ref><ref name="Economi">{{Cite web |year=2005 |title=Wales A Vibrant Economy |url=http://wales.gov.uk/deet/publications/bande/wave/wavee.pdf?lang=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216020108/http://wales.gov.uk/deet/publications/bande/wave/wavee.pdf?lang=en |archive-date=16 December 2010 |access-date=2 October 2010 |publisher=[[Welsh Government]] |pages=12, 22, 40, 42}}</ref>

Poor-quality soil in much of Wales is unsuitable for crop-growing, so livestock farming has been the focus of farming. About 78 per cent of the land surface is used for agriculture.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Area of agricultural land, by type of crop and grass (Thousand Hectares) |url=http://www.statswales.wales.gov.uk/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=2829 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303114602/http://www.statswales.wales.gov.uk/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=2829 |archive-date=3 March 2012 |access-date=2 October 2010 |website=StatsWales}} Total agricultural area (2004): 1633.5 thousand hectares (16,335 km<sup>2</sup>), Wales area 20,779 km<sup>2</sup></ref> The Welsh landscape, with its three national parks and [[Blue Flag beach]]es, attracts [[Tourism in Wales|large numbers of tourists]], who bolster the economy of rural areas.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/8672318.stm |title=Tourism hope over record 45 beach flags in Wales |publisher=BBC|date=11 May 2010|access-date=7 September 2010|work=[[BBC News]] website}}; {{Cite web |title=Tourism – Sector Overview Wales |url=http://www.gowales.co.uk/en/graduate/workingInWales/keyIndustryProfiles/tourism/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409072132/http://www.gowales.co.uk/en/graduate/workingInWales/keyIndustryProfiles/tourism/index.html |archive-date=9 April 2010 |access-date=7 September 2010 |website=[[GO Wales]] website |publisher=[[GO Wales]]}}</ref> Wales, like Northern Ireland, has relatively few high [[value-added]] employment in sectors such as finance and research and development, attributable in part to a comparative lack of "economic mass" (i.e. population) – Wales lacks a large metropolitan centre.<ref name="Economi" /> The lack of high value-added employment is reflected in lower economic output per head relative to other regions of the UK: in 2002 it stood at 90 per cent of the EU25 average and around 80 per cent of the UK average.<ref name="Economi" /> In June 2008, Wales made history by becoming the first nation to be awarded [[Fairtrade certification|Fairtrade status]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 June 2008 |title=Welsh Government &#124; Written – Wales – the world's first 'Fair Trade Nation' |url=http://wales.gov.uk/about/cabinet/cabinetstatements/2008/wft/?lang=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122150728/http://wales.gov.uk/about/cabinet/cabinetstatements/2008/wft/?lang=en |archive-date=22 January 2010 |access-date=19 June 2010 |website=[[Welsh Government]] website |publisher=[[Welsh Government]]}}</ref>

The [[pound sterling]] is the currency used in Wales. Numerous Welsh banks issued their own banknotes in the 19th century: the last bank to do so closed in 1908. Since then the [[Bank of England]] has had a monopoly on the issue of banknotes in Wales.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carradice |first=Phil |title=The collapse of the Welsh banks |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/waleshistory/2010/03/collapse_of_welsh_banks.html#more/ |access-date=30 September 2010 |website=[[BBC Cymru Wales]] website |publisher=BBC }}; {{cite web |url=http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/about/scottish_northernireland.htm |title=The Bank of England's Role in Regulating the Issue of Scottish and Northern Ireland Banknotes |publisher=[[Bank of England]] |year=2010 |access-date=30 September 2010 |website=[[Bank of England]] website |archive-date=4 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204061720/http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/about/scottish_northernireland.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Bank of Wales|Commercial Bank of Wales]], established in Cardiff by [[Julian Hodge|Sir Julian Hodge]] in 1971, was taken over by the [[Bank of Scotland]] in 1988 and absorbed into its parent company in 2002.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Commercial Bank of Wales, Carmarthen Branch, Papers |url=http://www.archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?inst_id=30&coll_id=1738&expand= |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716085038/http://www.archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?inst_id=30&coll_id=1738&expand= |archive-date=16 July 2011 |access-date=8 September 2010 |publisher=Archives Wales}}</ref> The [[Royal Mint]], which issues the [[Coins of the pound sterling|coinage]] circulating through the whole of the UK, has been based at a single site in [[Llantrisant]] since 1980.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2010 |title=www.royalmint.gov.uk |url=http://www.royalmint.com/Corporate/History/OurHistory.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101012035225/http://www.royalmint.com/Corporate/History/OurHistory.aspx |archive-date=12 October 2010 |access-date=26 September 2010 |website=[[Royal Mint]] website |publisher=[[Royal Mint]]}}</ref> Since [[decimalisation]], in 1971, at least one of the coins in circulation emphasises Wales such as the 1995 and 2000 one pound coin (above). As at 2012, the last designs devoted to Wales saw production in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 February 2012 |title=The New Designs Revealed |url=http://www.royalmint.com/newdesigns/designsRevealed.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080522150734/http://www.royalmint.com/newdesigns/designsRevealed.aspx |archive-date=22 May 2008 |access-date=11 October 2008 |website=[[Royal Mint]] website |publisher=[[Royal Mint]]}}</ref>

During 2020, and well into 2021, the restrictions and lockdowns necessitated by the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] affected all sectors of the economy and "tourism and hospitality suffered notable losses from the pandemic" across the UK.<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 March 2021 |title=Covid-19 impact on the Tourism and Hospitality Sector, an insight from the latest Economic Commentary |url=https://fraserofallander.org/covid-19-impact-on-the-tourism-and-hospitality-sector-an-insight-from-the-latest-economic-commentary/ |publisher=University of Strathclyde |quote=... health and economic crisis ... In particular, tourism and hospitality suffered notable losses from the pandemic.}}</ref> As of 6 April 2021, visitors from "red list" countries were still not allowed to enter unless they were UK residents. Restrictions will "likely be in place until the summer", one report predicted, with June being the most likely time for tourism from other countries to begin a rebound.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Travel to the UK during Covid-19: What you need to know before you go |publisher=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/uk-travel-covid-19/index.html |access-date=8 April 2021 |quote=It is too early to say which countries will be on the green list when non-essential international travel resumes}}</ref> On 12 April 2021, many tourist facilities were still closed in Wales but non-essential travel between Wales and England was finally permitted. Wales also allowed non-essential retail stores to open.<ref>{{cite news |date=13 April 2021 |title=Covid lockdown eases: Celebrations as pub gardens and shops reopen |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-56710858 |work=BBC News}}</ref>&nbsp;