UK economy bounced back more strongly than first thought in last six months of 2020 – but it was still down by 9.8%

THE UK economy bounced back more strongly than first thought in the last six months of 2020, but was still down 9.8% overall for the year.

Gross domestic product (GDP) was helped by the easing of lockdown restrictions in the latter half of the year, as well as the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

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The economy grew by 16.9% and 1.3% in the third and fourth quarters, the Office for National Statistics has said.

But GDP shrank by more than expected in the second quarter during the first coronavirus lockdown, falling by 19.5%.

This is when the country plunged into its “worst ever” recession as businesses continued to be shut down by the pandemic.

Overall, the economy was still down by 9.8% in 2020 – slightly better than the 9.9% first estimated.

The latest figures are based on revised data released by the ONS today.

GDP was originally estimated to have grown by 1% in the fourth quarter of 2020, and 16.1% in the three months before.

For the second quarter – when the coronavirus crisis started to bite the economy – GDP was originally thought to have fallen 19%.

So far in 2021, the UK economy has shrunk by 2.9% in January due to the third lockdown, with some of the toughest restrictions in place since Covid hit a year ago.

Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician at the ONS, said: “Our revised quarterly figures show the economy shrank a little more than previously estimated in the initial stages of the pandemic, before recovering slightly more strongly in the second half of last year.

“However, these new estimates paint the same overall picture as before, with historically large falls in GDP in the spring, followed by a recovery in the summer and autumn.”

More to follow…

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