Britain has suffered the deepest recession among the world’s top economies this year, shrinking by a fifth in the second quarter alone when much of the economy was on hold as part of efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic.It is the biggest hit in the second quarter of the world's major economiesThe 20.4 per cent quarterly drop is the worst since records began in 1955, the Office for National Statistics said, and means Britain is in recession.
The data confirmed that the world's sixth-biggest economy had entered a recession, with the low point coming in April when output was more than 25 per cent below its pre-pandemic level. Any decision to pump more stimulus into the economy by the Bank of England and Mr Sunak will hinge on the pace of growth in the coming months, and whether the worst-hit sectors such as face-to-face retail and business travel ever fully recover.
Suren Thiru, an economist with the British Chambers of Commerce, said the recent pick-up probably only reflected the release of pent-up demand rather than a sustained revival.Britain's unemployment rate is expected to jump when the government ends its huge job subsidy programme in October. British GDP shrank by 2.2 per cent in the first quarter of the year, reflecting the lockdown that started on March 24.Britain closed restaurants, shops and other public spaces after many other European countries, meaning more of the hit was felt in the second quarter.