Latest figures have shown that the UK economy shrank by 19.8% between April and June this year. This is the largest decline since 1955, when records began, but is less dramatic than the original estimates made by the Office for National Statistics.
This latest drop comes following a decline of 2.5% between January and March. As it is the second consecutive quarterly fall, the UK now meets the technical definition of a recession. The ONS says that the drop reflects the measures that were taken and financial policies implemented by the UK government at the start of this year due to the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic.
A spokesperson from the ONS said “it is clear that the UK is in the largest recession on record” and Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, has said that they are “ready to take action”, adding that “actually it’s not a surprising number” as we are still in the midst of the crisis.
On Wednesday, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned that the UK could be one of the hardest hit out of all the major economies, with current estimates predicting an overall 11.5% contraction of the economy for 2020.
