UK officially goes into recession

It is official that the UK has gone into recession for the first time in 11 years and this can be attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the 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 GDP fell by 2.2% in the previous quarter (Jan to Mar) 2020.

This recession’s been described as two straight quarters of economic decline since 2009.

The deputy national statistician for economic statistics, Jonathan Athow said that the economy bounced back in June after the monthly gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 8.7% following growth of 2.4% in May 2020, but it wasn’t enough to recover the lost output earlier in the year.

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

Despite this, gross domestic product (GDP) in June still remains a sixth below its level in February, before the virus struck.”

1. The ONS said that the decline in output was driven by the shutdown of shops, hotels, restaurants, schools, and car repair shops.