The Economist Style Guide
The Economist Style Guide is the editorial manual used by The Economist newspaper, published commercially for writers who want concise, analytical prose in the British journalistic tradition.
Also known as:
Economist style
What is The Economist Style Guide?
The Economist Style Guide is the internal editorial manual The Economist uses to keep its writing clean, crisp and analytical, now published as a book for outside writers. It covers grammar, usage, punctuation, British English conventions, numbers and the paper's famously tight approach to unnecessary words. For example, the guide tells writers to prefer short words over long ones, cut qualifiers and avoid clichés, which is why Economist articles read densely but never drag.
Why does The Economist Style Guide matter?
The Economist's guide matters because it codifies a style that prizes clarity and economy over ornament, a register well-suited to business writing, policy analysis and research summaries. Writers who adopt its rules produce tighter copy that treats the reader's time as valuable. It is also a common reference for British English conventions, which makes it a useful counterpart to AP and Chicago for teams writing for UK audiences.
Examples of The Economist Style Guide
Short words — Prefer plain words over dressed-up ones: "use" over "utilize," "end" over "terminate," "begin" over "commence."
British English — Spelling and grammar follow British conventions, so "organisation," "colour" and "travelled."
Acronyms — Capitalize only the first letter when the acronym is pronounceable and five letters or fewer, so "Nato" and "Opec" but "UNESCO."
