GDP plummeted by 20.4 PER CENT in April the biggest fall EVER as coronavirus wreaked havoc on the UK economy – with warnings the recovery might take years
- New figures show the scale of the devastation being wreaked on UK economy
- GDP slumped by a record 20.4 per cent in April, first full month of lockdown
- It followed a slump of 5.8 per cent in March amid worst recession in 300 years
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
The UK economy shrank by an astonishing 20.4 per cent in April – the biggest fall ever – as coronavirus wreaked havoc.
GDP plummeted by more than a fifth in the first month of lockdown, following a 5.8 per cent slump in March.
It has now contracted by 25 per cent since February – with the country facing the worst recession in 300 years, when the Great Frost laid waste to Europe.
The eye-watering reduction shows the scale of the devastation being inflicted on UK plc by lockdown.
The news will heap pressure on Boris Johnson to find a way to ease the draconian curbs.
GDP plummeted by more than a fifth in the first month of lockdown, and has now contracted by 25 per cent since February
Construction has been the worst hit sector of the economy, according to the ONS figures
ONS spokesman Jonathan Athow said the drop was likely to represent the worst of the impact, but there are warnings that many jobs will not come back quickly and the economy could take years to recover.
‘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,’ Mr Athow said.
‘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.
‘Manufacturing and construction also saw significant falls, with manufacture of cars and housebuilding particularly badly affected.
‘The UK’s trade with the rest of the world was also badly affected by the pandemic, with large falls in both the import and export of cars, fuels, works of art and clothing.’
Mr Athow said it was ‘highly likely that April will be the low point of economic output’.
But he added: ‘It is really too early to know how quickly economic activity will recover in the coming months.’
Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds warned the UK economy was shrinking at a faster rate than those of other developed countries.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Ms Dodds said: ‘What particularly concerns me is that actually we’re not just looking at one month of economic damage.
‘There was a report that came out a couple of days ago from the OECD and it suggested that the drop in GDP for this year for the UK would actually be worse than for every other industrialised nation.
‘So we’re in a very, very difficult situation as a country and we will need strong action to help us climb out of this as quickly as possible.’
The UK economy is facing the worst recession in 300 years, since the Great Frost laid waste to Europe on 1709