Just how much is £33,000,000,000?

The cost projection of HS2 is around £33 bn.  Ignoring the fact that not all government estimates have always been accurate and that it is fair to say that the figure is likely to be exceeded, just how much is £33 billion pounds?

One billion is a thousand million

So, a million is 1,000,000 (that is one thousand times one thousand)

A billion is 1,000,000,000 (that is one thousand million or, if you prefer, one thousand times one thousand times one thousand)

Thirty three billion pounds is £33,000,000,000

The average UK annual income is £26,500 so £33,000,000,000 is 1,245,283 working years’ pay – about one and a quarter million people’s earnings for a year. That is 4.2 in every hundred working people in the UK. Or, if you prefer, and taking the average working life as 44 years (pick another figure if you prefer) , then 1,245,283 working years divided by 44 would suggest that 28,302 working people would have to work all their lives to earn that £33 bn.