UK Falls Into Recession After GDP Shrank To Record 20.4 % In Second Quarter - Report

UK Falls Into Recession After GDP Shrank to Record 20.4 % in Second Quarter - Report

The UK economy has officially fallen into recession after its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shrank to a record 20.4 percent in the second quarter of 2020, due to the COVID-19 lockdown, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Wednesday

LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th August, 2020) The UK economy has officially fallen into recession after its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shrank to a record 20.4 percent in the second quarter of 2020, due to the COVID-19 lockdown, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Wednesday.

"UK gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have fallen by a record 20.4% in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2020, marking the second consecutive quarterly decline after it fell by 2.2% in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2020," the ONS report said.

According to the official governmental body, when compared with the last quarter of 2019, the UK GDP has decreased by 22,1 percent in the second quarter of the current year.

Since the GDP had already shrunken by 2.2 percent in the first three months of 2020, two straight quarters of economic decline has plunged the UK into technical recession for the first time since the 2009 financial crisis.

The recession brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has led to the biggest fall in quarterly GDP on record, ONS Deputy National Statistical for Economic Statistics Jonathan Athow said, as cited in the report.

The ONS said record quarterly falls in private consumption, services, production and construction output were the most exposed sectors to the restrictions imposed by the government during the lockdown.

However, in spite of the record fall in the second quarter, the economy began to give signs of recovery in June as government restrictions on movement started to ease, the report added.

"The economy began to bounce back in June with shops reopening, factories beginning to ramp up production and housebuilding continuing to recover," Athow explained.

The official warned, however, that despite this, GDP in June still remains a sixth below its level in February, before the virus struck.