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List of nationalizations by country

This is a list of industries, services, products, or companies that have been nationalized at various times, grouped by country.

List

Argentina

Australia

Bahrain

Bangladesh

  • 1971 The State Bank of Bangladesh was founded by nationalization of the private shares in the eastern section of the State Bank of Pakistan.
  • 1972-1974 Through this three years period after independence of Bangladesh in 1971, the government had taken over 786 industrial undertakings. Included in this number, the government nationalized 245 enterprises in 11 industries: 76 jute mills, 52 textile mills, 30 textile tanneries, 17 engineering companies, 16 food producers, 15 sugar mills, 10 paper industry companies, 9 companies within the fertilizer, pharma and chemical industries, 8 steel companies, 6 oil and gas companies, and 6 forest industry undertakings. A further 375 state-owned enterprises were founded in the same period, but 320 of them were placed for later re-privatization to Bengali owners, of which 211 had been privatized by 1978.
  • 1972 On March 26, 1972, the Government of Bangladesh formally took over all assets having belonged to (West) Pakistani citizens. Many enterprises expropriated 1971-1974 were owned by West Pakistanis (citizens of present-day Pakistan) who had fled the country during war and liberation. This included all jute exports and 6 private shipping companies.
  • 1972 On March 26, 1972, the government nationalised 12 commercial banks belonging to both (West) Pakistani and Bangladeshi shareholders.
  • 1975 A reversal of policies started, with large-scale divestment of state-owned enterprises and reimbursement of compensation to previous private owners.
  • 1977 This year, a total of 371 of the previously nationalized enterprises, still remained under state ownership. Approximately 400 companies had been de-nationalised and transferred to private owners.

Bolivia

Most utilities were nationally owned before being privatized in 1994.

  • 2006 On May 1, 2006, newly elected Bolivian president Evo Morales announced plans to nationalize the country's natural gas industry; foreign-based companies were given six months to renegotiate their existing contracts.
  • 2008 On May 1, 2008, the nationalization of Bolivia's leading telecommunications company Entel was completed, previously having been owned by Telecom Italia.
  • 2010 On May 1, 2010, the government nationalized the country's main hydroelectric plant, thereby assuming control over most of Bolivia's electrical generation and end-user sales.
  • 2012 On May 1, 2012, the Morales government nationalized power grid operator Transportadora de Electricidad (TDE), until then 99.94% owned by Red Eléctrica de España. TDE owns and runs 73% of the power lines in Bolivia.

Canada

Chile

China

In the period of Republican China, Sun Yat-sen had sweeping land reforms and nationalized many industries. The rise of the People's Republic of China under Mao Zedong nationalized all private assets, restricted private ownership, even of land, and the state determined output and price levels. Some of these were reversed after Deng Xiaoping loosed restrictions in 1978, allowing private and foreign investment to enter the country.

After the end of martial law period and democratization in Taiwan, the Republic of China began to privatize many government-owned assets, even those owned by the Kuomintang.

Colombia

Croatia

On the break-up of Yugoslavia, The HDZ government nationalized private agricultural property and rezoned it under the guise of forest statesmanship, when their publicly professed agenda was to only complete the nationalization of the communists. Much of this land is in the process of being reinstated and the model rethought.

Cuba

After the Cuban Revolution of 1959 the Castro government gradually expropriated all foreign-owned private companies, most of which were owned by American corporations and individuals. The immediate trigger was the refusal by American-owned oil refineries to refine the crude oil received from the Soviet Union. Faced with the prospect of no oil, Cuba nationalized the three American refineries. This action escalated the US embargo on Cuba, which responded by nationalizing all American owned property. Eventually all Cuban private property was nationalized.

Beginning in 1966, the Castro government nationalized all remaining privately owned businesses in Cuba, down to the level of street vendors. The process accelerated on March 14, 1968, with a new "revolutionary offensive."

Castro had offered bonds at 4.5% interest over twenty years to U.S. companies, but U.S. ambassador Philip Bonsal requested the compensation up front and rejected the offer. A minor amount of $1.3 million, was paid to U.S. interests before deteriorating relations ended all cooperation between the two governments. The U.S. established a registry of claims against the Cuban government, ultimately developing files on 5,911 specific companies. The Cuban government has refused to discuss the compensation of U.S. claims and the U.S. government continues to insist on compensation for U.S. companies.

Czechoslovakia

Egypt

Finland

  • 1993 A minor part of the banking sector is nationalized, Omaisuudenhoitoyhtiö Arsenal was created to solve the banking crisis.
  • 2015: Talvivaara Sotkamo Ltd which operated a nickel mine in Sotkamo, went bankrupt in November 2014, and the Finnish state immediately took over the mine in order to stabilize the mine's operations in order to prevent environmental damage. Terrafame, which is wholly owned by the Finnish state, bought the mine from the bankruptcy estate for one euro in August 2015. Since then, efforts have been made to privatize the mine. The state's holding in November 2020 was still 71.2%.

France

Nationalisation dates back to the 'regies' or state monopolies organized under the Ancien Régime, for example, the monopoly on tobacco sales. Communications companies France Telecom and La Poste are relics of the state postal and telecommunications monopolies.

There was a major expansion of the nationalised sector following World War II. A second wave followed in 1982.

The Paris regional transport operator, RATP Group, can also be counted as a nationalised industry.

Germany

The railways were nationalised after World War I. Partial privatisation of Deutsche Bahn was planned in 2008 but stopped due to the World Economic Crisis. As of 2020 there are no plans for privatisation.

Large sections of the mining, banking, and shipping industries either became dependent on government money or were placed entirely under care of the Weimar Republic in the wake of the Great Depression; these were later reprivatized between 1934 and 1937 by the Nazi regime.

In Nazi Germany, private businessmen had the ability to influence government policy, and most of them remained committed to the principle of Gewerbefreiheit – business freedom – seeking to prevent any nationalization of industry. Nevertheless, as the Nazi government confiscated the assets of conquered nations during World War II, over 500 state enterprises were expanded to absorb those assets, one of the largest being the Hermann Göring Works (iron), mostly operated by the Nazi Party apparatus.

In East Germany, most enterprises were nationalised in the years following World War II. After German reunification, an agency called Treuhand was established to return them to private ownership, however many were liquidated.

Greece

Guernsey

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Iran

Ireland

1940s: Railways nationalised as Córas Iompair Éireann.
2007: On 3 August 2007, the Irish government were offered a stake in Eircom's copper network infrastructure. Ireland's telephone networks were privatised in 1999.
2009: On 16 January 2009, the Irish Government nationalised Anglo Irish Bank to secure the bank's viability.
2010: State-owned Anglo Irish Bank is to take majority control of one of Ireland's largest companies QUINN group bringing it under Public ownership.

Israel

Italy

1905: The railways were nationalised as Ferrovie dello Stato.
1922-39: The regime of Benito Mussolini extended nationalisation, creating the Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale (IRI) as a State holding company for struggling firms, including the car maker Alfa Romeo. A parallel body, Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (Eni) was set up to manage State oil and gas interests. Fascist Italy had nationalized over three-quarters of its economy by 1939, more so than any nation other than the Soviet Union. Mussolini had earlier boasted in 1934 that “Three-fourths of Italian economy, industrial and agricultural, is in the hands of the state." By 1939 the Italian state had taken over four-fifths of Italy's shipping and shipbuilding, three-fourths of pig iron production, and nearly half of the steel industry.
1978: The formation of the National Health Service provided free healthcare to all citizens, still some private spending but 77% is public.

Japan

Korea

Many lands, enterprises and industries were also nationalized by the Soviet Civil Administration and the Worker's Party-dominated provisional government in northern Korea after World War II, which later became the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 1948.

Lithuania

In 2011 Snoras bank was nationalized.

Latvia

Malta

Mexico

Morocco

Nepal

Netherlands

New Zealand

Pakistan

  • 1972: On January 2, 1972, Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, after East Pakistan broke away, announced the nationalisation of all major industries, including iron and steel, heavy engineering, heavy electricals, petrochemicals, cement and public utilities except textiles industry and lands. The process was effectively ended after the overthrow of Prime Minister Bhutto in Operation Fair Play.

Philippines

During the term of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, important companies such as Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), Philippine Airlines, Meralco and the Manila Hotel were nationalized. Other companies were sometimes absorbed into these government-owned corporations, as well as other companies, such as National Power Corporation (Napocor) and the Philippine National Railways, which in their own right are monopolies (exceptions are Meralco and the Manila Hotel). Today, these companies have been reprivatized and some, such as PLDT and Philippine Airlines, have been de-monopolized. Others, like government-owned and controlled corporation Napocor, are in the process of privatization.

Poland

Portugal

Romania

  • 1948 With the Decree 119 of June 11, 1948, the new Communist regime nationalised all private companies and their assets leading to the transformation of the economy from a market economy to a planned economy.
  • 1950 With the Decree 92 of April 19, 1950, a huge number of private houses and lands are confiscated.

Russia/Soviet Union

Saudi Arabia

  • The government nationalized the oil producer company Aramco in 1980.

Spain

Sri Lanka

Sweden

  • 1939-1948 Nationalisation of most of the private railway companies.
  • 1957 The mining company LKAB is nationalized. The state had owned 50% of the corporation's shares, with options to buy the remainder, since 1907.
  • 1970s The Swedish government nationalised the pharmacies, where the state-owned Apoteksbolaget AB was given a retail monopoly.
  • 1992 A minor part of the banking sector is nationalized.

Tanzania

  • 1967 The Arusha Declaration was proclaimed in 1967 by President Julius Nyerere, which aimed to achieve self-reliance through nationalising key sectors of the economy such as banks, large industries and plantations were therefore nationalised. This failed, worsening Tanzania's economic problems until foreign aid and liberalisation took effect in the 1980s and 1990s.

Turkey

United Kingdom

1858: British East India Company -In the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion, under the provisions of the Government of India Act 1858, the British Government nationalised the East India Company.
1868: Nationalisation of inland telegraphs under the General Post Office with the Telegraph Act 1868.
1875: Suez Canal Company - The Egyptian share in the company was bought by the government.
1912: Nationalisation of National Telephone Company under the GPO, apart from Portsmouth and Hull. The Portsmouth telephone service was nationalised the following year.
1916: Liquor Trade - The nationalisation of pubs and breweries in Carlisle, Gretna, Cromarty and Enfield under the State Management Scheme; mainly an attempt to restricting alcohol consumption by armaments factory workers. The scheme was privatised by asset transfer in 1973.
1926: Central Electricity Board introduced under Electricity (Supply) Act 1926 established the National Grid and set up a national standard for electricity supply.
1927: British Broadcasting Company (a privately owned company) became the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), a public corporation operating under a Royal Charter.
1933: London Transport
1938: Nationalisation of UK Coal Royalties under the Coal Commission by the Coal Act 1938.
1939: British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), later British Airways - combining the private British Airways Ltd and the state owned Imperial Airways and placing its control under National Air Communications.
1939-45: During World War II, much of British industry was subjected to close regulation or control, although not nationalised as such.
1943: North of Scotland Hydro-Electricity Board
1945-51: The Labour Party comes to power in the Attlee ministry with a program for nationalising weak sectors of the economy.
1946: Coal industry under the National Coal Board with the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946.
1946: Bank of England - its private shareholders who were bought out by the state.
1947: Central Electricity Generating Board and area electricity boards. Privatized in the 1990s.
1947: Cable & Wireless Ltd - the latter had had private shareholders who were bought out by the state.
1948: National Health Service created taking over hospitals and making medical services (see Universal Healthcare) free by the National Health Service Act 1946 which came into effect in 1948. The NHS has gone through various changes since, but has remained as an organisation in the public sector ever since.
1948: National rail, inland (not marine) water transport, some road haulage, some road passenger transport and Thomas Cook & Son under the British Transport Commission. Separate elements operated as British Railways, British Road Services, and British Waterways.
1949: Gas Act 1948 nationalises local authority and private gas supply undertakings in England, Scotland and Wales
1951: Iron and Steel Industry under the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain
1951-64 : The Conservative governments led by Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan and Alec Douglas-Home allowed most of the nationalized industries and services to remain in public ownership, as part of the Post-War Consensus, though road haulage (1951) and the iron & steel industry (1955) were denationalized.
1964-70: The Labour Party returns to power in the First Wilson ministry and extends the size of the public sector.
1967: British Steel Corporation Re-nationalized (Reprivatized by the Conservative Government in September 1988)
1969: National Bus Company, combining former interests of the British Transport Commission with others acquired from the British Electric Traction group.
1969: Post Office Corporation created by the Post Office Act 1969.
1970-74: The Conservative Party returns to power in the Heath ministry and carries out a little nationalization and a little privatization.
1971: Rolls-Royce (1971) Ltd - The strategically important aero-engine part of the recently bankrupt Rolls-Royce Limited.
1973: Water Act 1973 nationalises local authority water supply undertakings in England and Wales
1973: British Gas Corporation created, replacing regional gas boards.
1974-76: The Labour Party returns to power in the Wilson ministry and resumes a nationalization programme.
1974: British Petroleum - the combination of a 50% stake bought by Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty after World War I with around a 25% stake acquired by the Bank of England from Burmah Oil made the government directly or indirectly BP's majority shareholder, though commercial independence was maintained. A minority of the shares were sold in 1977 and the remainder were sold during the 1980s.
1975: National Enterprise Board - a State holding company for full or partial ownership of industrial undertakings
1976: British Leyland Motor Corporation - became British Leyland upon nationalization under the National Enterprise Board. Later became known simply as the holding company "BL Ltd", it was later reorganised into several standalone businesses - the best known being Austin Rover, Leyland Trucks, Freight Rover, Land Rover and Jaguar.
1976-79: Under Prime Minister Jim Callaghan of the Labour Party and facing an austerity programme to reduce the Budget Deficit, nationalization starts to grind to a halt.
1977: British Aerospace - combining the major aircraft companies British Aircraft Corporation, Hawker Siddeley and others. British Shipbuilders - combining the major shipbuilding companies including Cammell Laird, Govan Shipbuilders, Swan Hunter, Yarrow Shipbuilders under the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977.
1979-97: The Conservative Party comes to power under Margaret Thatcher with a pledge to roll back the frontiers of the State. The vast majority of nationalized industries, services and utilities were privatized within a decade and her successor John Major continued and extended privatization, although the NHS was allowed to continue.
1981: British Telecom (later styled as :BT:) created, taking control of telecommunications services from Post Office Telecommunications under the British Telecommunications Act 1981.
1984: Johnson Matthey Bankers - purchased for a nominal sum of £1 by the Thatcher government on fears of a banking crisis and sold to Westpac in 1986.
1990: The Caledonian Steam Packet Co. spun off its ferry arm, Caledonian MacBrayne, with all shares in the new company being purchased by the Secretary of State for Scotland. Since Scottish devolution Caledonian MacBrayne has been owned by the Scottish Government.
1997-2010: The Labour Party comes to power under Tony Blair. Labour in opposition initially opposed Thatcher's privatization, but the party's commitment to nationalisation had been abandoned by the time it swept back into power, though under his successor Gordon Brown from 2007 it did nationalize many of the banks and building societies during the Great Recession.
1997: Docklands Light Railway - John Prescott announced to the 1997 Labour Party Conference that he had nationalised this, although it was already in public hands anyway.
2001: Railtrack - The owner and operator of the railway infrastructure, Railtrack, was not nationalised as such. However, its replacement Network Rail, whilst not a state-owned company, had no shareholders (company limited by guarantee) and was underwritten by the state. Prior to this the government began to make use of a residual shareholding of 0.2% (including voting rights) in Railtrack Group Plc left over from the original sale.
2003: The Strategic Rail Authority took control of the South Eastern franchise after the failure of the private operator Connex South Eastern. The franchise was re-privatised in 2006 as part of the Integrated Kent franchise.
2008: Northern Rock - Nationalization announced by Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer on 17 February 2008 as 'a temporary measure'. The bank will be run at 'arm's length' as a commercial business and sold to a private buyer in the future. Northern Rock was sold to Virgin Money in 2011.
2008: Bradford & Bingley (mortgage book only) - announced by Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer on 29 September 2008. The loans part of the company was nationalised, while the commercial bank was sold.
2008: In October, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and the newly merged HBOS-Lloyds TSB was partly nationalised. The Government took approximately 60% of RBS (later increased to 70%, then 80%) and 40% of HBOS-Lloyds TSB as part of the £500bn bank rescue package. The Lloyds Bank and TSB businesses were operationally demerged in 2013 in preparation for a full demerger and reprivatisation. RBS agreed a branch sale to the Santander Group in November 2011, which Santander withdrew from later. In November 2012 the Public Accounts Committee warned that it could be many years before the banks are sold and the £66 billion so far invested in these banks may never be recovered. In May 2025 the government finally completed disposal of shares in banks acquired during the Financial Crisis with the sale of remaining shares in NatWest Group (formerly called RBS Group).
2009: In June the Department for Transport took control of London & Continental Railways.
2009: On 13 November, Directly Operated Railways, a government company, took over the InterCity East Coast franchise that National Express East Coast had been awarded in 2007 with £1.4 billion premium to be paid over seven years. The nationalised service operated as East Coast and included services from London to Leeds and Edinburgh. It returned to the private sector in April 2015 with Virgin Trains East Coast
2013: Cardiff Airport was purchased by the Welsh Government from its private owners for £52 million.
2013: In December it was acknowledged that Network Rail would be reclassified as a "public sector body" in 2014 with its financial liabilities now formally included as part of the national debt. Much debate continues however, whether this still constitutes "nationalisation" in a broader context.
2013: Glasgow Prestwick Airport was purchased by the Scottish Government for £1 from its previous owner Infratil.
2018: Following the collapse of Carillion, facilities management at 52 prisons in England was transferred to a new government-owned company, Gov Facilities Services Limited.
2018: On 24 June London North Eastern Railway took over the InterCity East Coast franchise after Virgin Trains East Coast overbid.
2019: Ferguson Marine Engineering nationalised by the Scottish government.
2020: The ONS announced that private train operating companies were to be temporarily reclassified as "public non-financial corporations" from 1 April due to the government assuming the financial risk of their rail franchises during the COVID-19 pandemic. The train operating companies' debt is to be included in public borrowing figures and their employees are to be counted as public sector employees.
2021: In November 2020, the British government announced that AWE plc, operator of the Atomic Weapons Establishment, would become wholly owned by the Ministry of Defence from June 2021.
2021: Probation services in England and Wales for low- and medium-risk offenders brought back under public control after being privatised in 2014.
2021: Steel manufacturer Sheffield Forgemasters is purchased by the Ministry of Defence.
2021: Government-owned Operator of Last Resort took over train operator Southeastern from its franchise holder Govia.
2021: Bulb Energy nationalised due to increasing wholesale energy costs and the energy price cap.
2022: On 1 April, Scotrail operations were transferred by the Scottish Government from Abellio to a Scottish government owned company.
2024: A semiconductor factory owned by Coherent is purchased by the Ministry of Defence for £20 million.
2024: National Grid ESO purchased nationalised for £630 million and renamed National Energy System Operator.
2025 : Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025
2025-27: Most remaining rail passenger franchises are being nationalised and a publicly owned company running infrastructure and passenger services called Great British Railways is planned to be established.

British assets nationalised by other countries

1940s: Argentine railways
1953: British Petroleum's Iranian assets (actually a nationalisation of part of a part-nationalised company)
1956: The Egyptian Government nationalised the Suez Canal, owned by the Suez Canal Company which was part owned by the British government.
1962: The Ceylon Government nationalised the assets of the partly British-owned Royal Dutch Shell company.
1975: The Sri Lanka Government nationalised the assets of the British-owned plantation companies.

United States

Venezuela

  • 1975 Nationalisation of the iron and steel industry.
  • 1976, foundation of PDVSA with the nationalization of the Venezuelan oil industry under the presidency of Carlos Andrés Pérez.
  • 2007 On May 1, 2007, the government stripped the world's biggest oil companies of operational control over massive Orinoco Belt crude projects, a controversial component in President Hugo Chávez's nationalization drive.
  • 2008 On April 3, 2008, Chávez ordered the nationalization of the cement industry.
  • 2008 On April 9, 2008, Chávez ordered the nationalization of Venezuelan steel mill Sidor, in which Luxembourg-based Ternium currently holds a 60% stake. Sidor employees and the Government hold a 20% stake respectively.
  • 2008 On August 19, 2008, Chávez ordered the take-over of a cement plant owned and operated by Cemex, an international cement producer. While shares of Cemex fell on the New York Stock Exchange, the cement plant comprises only about 5% of the company's business, and is not expected to adversely affect the company's ability to produce in other markets. Chávez was looking to nationalize the concrete and steel industries of his country to meet home building and infrastructure goals.
  • 2009 On February 28, 2009, Chávez ordered the army to take over all rice processing and packaging plants.
  • 2010 On January 20, 2010, Chávez signed an ordinance to nationalize six supermarkets under the system of retail stores of a French company because of increasing price and speculation hoarding illicit.
  • 2010 On June 24, 2010, Venezuela announced the intention to nationalize oil drilling rigs belonging to the U.S. company Helmerich & Payne.
  • 2010 On October 25, 2010, Chávez announced that the government was nationalizing two U.S.-owned Owens-Illinois glass-manufacturing plants.
  • 2010 On October 31, 2010, Chávez said his government will take over the Sidetur steel manufacturing plant. Sidetur is owned by Vivencia, which had two mineral plants appropriated by the government in 2008.
  • 2015 Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro promises to nationalize food distribution.

Vietnam

  • According to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1980, land ownership of farmers disappeared, the State owned land across the country and people have the right to temporary use of land, as a slow result of the Land reform in North Vietnam from 1953 to 1956.
  • After the Fall of Saigon in 1975, the government nationalized nearly all the property of the "landlords" and "comprador" in South Vietnam, property of the church and of the government of South Vietnam. All private enterprise was nationalized without compensation down to the street vendors, however "shadow companies" continued to operate.

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Other countries

See also

References