Britain's value falls for second year

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) – which adds up the value of infrastructure such as buildings and roads as well as financial assets –said the worth of the UK fell by 94bn to 6.67 trillion last year, a decline of 1.4 per cent.

It was the second successive year of falls after unbroken growth from 1992 – although the decline was not as steep as the 4.3 per cent, or 303bn, slide in 2008.

Housing remained Britain's most valuable asset – up 126bn or 3.2 per cent to 4.05 trillion over the year and accounting for 61 per cent of the country's net worth.

But that was more than offset by a 450bn fall in the value of private non-financial businesses.