The British economy shrank by over one fifth in April as a result of countrywide lockdown, new ONS figures indicate. The Office for National Statistics have said that this “historic” fall is the largest monthly contraction since records began, worse even, than the 2008 recession.
According to analysts, April will be the worst month for the economy as lockdown restrictions have been eased slowly since May. The figures indicate that in the three months between February and April, there was a decline of over ten per cent when compared with the previous three months.
Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician for economic statistics at the ONS, said that: "April's fall in GDP is the biggest the UK has ever seen, more than three times larger than last month and almost ten times larger than the steepest pre-Covid-19 fall.”
He continued that: "In April, the economy was around 25 per cent smaller than in February. Virtually all areas of the economy were hit, with pubs, education, health and car sales all giving the biggest contributions to this historic fall."
Athow did provide some hope, however, noting that: "It's highly likely April will be the low point.
"Our own surveys and wider indicators have suggested a pick-up in economy activity, but I think it's really too early to know how quickly economic activity will recover in the coming months."
Chancellor Rishi Sunak noted: "In line with many other economies around the world, coronavirus is having a severe impact on our economy.”
He concluded: "The lifelines we've provided with our furlough scheme, grants, loans and tax cuts have protected thousands of businesses and millions of jobs - giving us the best chance of recovering quickly as the economy reopens."
