Why the big difference in yield?

Glen_Clark

Just looking at 2 index tracker ETFs from the same company (Vanguard)
The UK index FTSE 100 ETF yields 3.41%
Wheras the US index S&P 500 ETF yields only 1.54%
Presumably this reflects the yields paid by the main stock market index of UK and USA, so I can't understand why such a big difference?

links;
UK index: http://funds.ft.com/uk/Tearsheet/Summary?s=VUKE:LSE:GBP
USA index: http://funds.ft.com/uk/Tearsheet/Summary?s=VUSA:LSE:GBP

SnowMan

I think share buybacks are more prevalent in the US than the UK as an alternative way of distributing profits.

In some years I think in the US share buybacks account for as much of distributed profits as dividends.