While the economies of all primary countries have been heavily affected by the forced closures of the coronavirus pandemic, the UK has been the hardest hit.
Economic output in the UK fell by 20.4% in the last quarter of 2020. The fall in GDP is the worst economic quarter in the UK since these records began to hold in 1955. The fall also follows weak economic functionality in the first quarter of 2020, when the country’s GDP fell by 2.2%.
“Today’s figures show that times are tough,” UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said. Hundreds of thousands of people have already lost their jobs and, unfortunately, in the coming months, many more will. But even if there are still difficult options to make, we will, and I can guarantee other people that no one will be. left without hope or opportunity. “
The economic decline in the first part of 2020 in the United Kingdom more than double that of the US. The U.S. economy It was reduced by 10.6% over the same period. The UK also made it worse than Germany, France and Italy, which also suffered from COVID-19 blockades.
Kallum Pickering, Berenberg’s senior economist, said the UK’s gdp drop was “more significant than expected.” The U.S. economy performed more than the maximum forecast, but still suffered significant losses.