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According to figures released by the National Statistics Office on Wednesday, the UK economy recorded a historic second quarter decline of more than 20%.
A contraction of its economy of 20.4% in the second quarter. Hit by the novel coronavirus crisis, the UK is facing its worst recession on record.
According to the National Statistics Office, which releases the figures on Wednesday, most of the contraction, which began to be felt in March, occurred in April, full month of confinement and almost total shutdown of activity, which saw production collapse by 20%.
With a very early recovery in construction sites and manufacturing activity, gross domestic product (GDP) rebounded by 2.4% in May (revised figure), then accelerated in June (+8.7 %) in particular thanks to the reopening of all shops, details the ONS.
This is the biggest contraction in the UK economy since the ONS started these quarterly statistics in 1955, he said.
While acknowledging the gravity of the situation, UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak assured that no citizen would be left behind.
“I said before that hard times lie ahead, today’s figures confirm it. Hundreds of thousands of people have already lost their jobs, and sadly, in the months to come, many more will do. the same “, commented the Chancellor of the Exchequer. “But if there are tough choices that will have to be made, we will weather” this storm, he added.
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FR NW SOT UK MINISTRE FINANCE 11H
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An economic decline due to confinement
The historical magnitude of this recession reflects “restrictions” of movement and activity which took place from the entry into force of containment in the country, on March 23.
The statistics body notes that, over the two quarters of recession, the British economy contracted by 22.1%, “a little less than the 22.7% observed in Spain but more than double the fall of GDP of 10.6% in the United States “over the same period.
For the ONS, this “larger contraction” in the United Kingdom than in most European countries reflects the longer duration of containment measures.
With AFP
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