UK enters deepest recession on record as economy shrinks by 20.4%

The country has been tipped into the largest recession on record (Picture: AP/ONS)

The UK has officially plunged into the largest recession on record after the coronavirus crisis triggered a dramatic slump. The nation was declared in recession for the first time in 11 years on Wednesday after the economy shrank 20.4% from April to June when compared with the first three months of the year. This follows a fall of 2.2% from January to March, The Office For National Statistics said this morning. A recession is defined as two successive quarters of decline in gross domestic product (GDP) – a measure of the size of the economy.

Such a slump has not been seen in the UK since 2008 and 2009 during the global financial crisis. Chancellor Rishi Sunak warned of a ‘severe recession, the likes of which we have not seen’ in May. After the GDP figures were revealed, he promised no one in the UK would be ‘left without hope or opportunity’. He said: ‘I’ve said before that hard times were ahead, and today’s figures confirm that hard times are here. The economy took a dramatic hit amid the coronavirus pandemic (Picture: ONS)

A sign is seen in the window of a shop explaining to customers that it has temporarily closed due to the coronavirus outbreak in Portobello Market in west London (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

Despite this, GDP in June still remains a sixth below its level in February, before the virus struck. ‘Overall, productivity saw its largest-ever fall in the second quarter. Hospitality was worst hit, with productivity in that industry falling by three-quarters in recent months.’ It comes after the ONS confirmed 730,000 UK workers lost their jobs between March and July, after hundreds of companies were battered by the pandemic.

Source:metro.co.uk/