The UK economy contracted by more than first thought between January and March, dropping 2.2% in the joint largest fall since 1979, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said.
Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician at the ONS, said: “Our more detailed picture of the economy in the first quarter showed GDP shrank a little more than first estimated.
“This is now the largest quarterly fall since 1979.
“Information from Government showed health activities declined more than we previously showed.
“All main sectors of the economy shrank significantly in March as the effects of the pandemic hit.
“The sharp fall in consumer spending at the end of March led to a notable increase in households’ savings.”
The full effects of lockdown look set to drive us far further into negative territory once they're accounted for.
The ONS said in April the economy plummeted an astonishing 25% - although added there was a lot of uncertainty around the numbers at the moment.
“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," Athow said.
"In April the economy was around 25% 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.”
