The European Union was formed after World War II as a way to unite Europe through trade. The EU has 28 countries involved, with 19 of them using a standard currency. The countries within the EU has a single market system- goods can be traded easily, people can move easily, and has a shared parliamentary system for rule-setting on a wide variety of topics. The UK entered the EU after a referendum vote in 1975 on the issue of entering the EU. Members are allowed to leave with Article 50, part of the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon, it’s a paragraph-long document stating a country needs to negotiate with the EU before formally exiting. 
The single-market is considered one of the biggest achievements by the EU. European countries before the EU could trade freely without tariffs with one another if they were part of a free trade area, but they did not have to merge their economies together. The reasoning for this was to boost trade, create jobs, lower prices, and drive innovative growth. The single-market was completed in 1992, essentially making every member country of the EU one country. This allowed for anyone to create a business or take a job anywhere within the union. 
What caused the British to strongly consider leaving the EU? Migration greater than since the Anglo-Saxon invasion of the British Isles. In 2015 alone, Britain saw 630,000 foreign nationals settle there. The population increased from 57 million in 1990 to 65 million in 2015, with a negative native birth rate -- estimates point out that the population could grow to 70 million in a decade. Half of which would be from foreign immigration. More people in Britain generally leads to higher costs of goods, services, and housing. This all stems from British people feeling crowded within their country already, with 200,000 British-born people leaving the UK every year.
On June 23rd, 2016, the people of the UK voted to exit the European Union. It is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29th, 2019. The vote was 51.9% for and 48.1% against, with 71.8 % (more than 30 million) of eligible voters turning out, according to BBC News. After the referendum vote, Theresa May became the Prime Minister ousting former PM David Cameron. May was not a supporter of the Brexit movement initially, but after the people voted she supported the voter’s decision. 
According to estimates from the BBC, the UK economy has estimated to have grown 1.8% in 2016, with Germany coming in at 1.9% in that same year. The UK economy continues to grow at nearly the same rate in 2017, with inflation having risen since June 2016 to 3%, however, unemployment is at a 42 year low of 4.3%. Not everything turned out okay after the Brexit referendum, however. The pound took a hit the day after the referendum, remaining 10% lower than the dollar and 15% lower than the euro. 
