Coronavirus (covid-19) Roundup From The Office Of National Statistics

12th August 2020

Today we've published the latest GDP figures for April to June 2020, assessing the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the UK economy. Some of the main points include:

The UK economy has entered recession, with GDP falling by a record 20.4% in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2020 (the second consecutive quarterly decline).

All the headline sectors provided a negative contribution to GDP growth in the three months to June 2020, with services falling by 19.9%, production by 16.9% and construction by 35.0%.

Monthly GDP grew by 8.7% in June 2020, as lockdown measured eased, but the level of output remains 17.2% lower than in February 2020.

Labour productivity, as measured by output per hour, dropped by a record 2.5% in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2020 compared with the previous quarter (this means output fell faster than hours worked).

By far the most significant fall in productivity was in the hospitality industry; output per hour in this industry decreased by 74.7% .

Imports and exports both fell significantly in April to June 2020, but imports dropped by a greater amount resulting in an increase in the total trade surplus (excluding non-monetary gold and other precious metals) to a record £8.6 billion.

Read full details HERE