UK nosedives into recession after GDP plunges 20% between April and June

A recession is defined as two successive quarters of decline in gross domestic product (GDP).

Britain has officially entered into the largest recession on record after figures showed the pandemic sent the economy plunging by 20.4% between April and June.

The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed the nosedive into recession for the first time since the financial crisis after the record-breaking contraction in the second quarter, which follows a 2.2% fall in the previous three months.

A recession is defined as two successive quarters of decline in gross domestic product (GDP).

Our latest GDP estimates for June show that the UK economy is now 17.2% smaller than it was in February before the full impacts of the #coronavirus #COVID19 pandemic hit https://t.co/8FmcVvX6lz pic.twitter.com/Qgh12prPtt

— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) August 12, 2020

But monthly figures showed the economy bounced back by a slightly better-than-expected 8.7% in June, following upwardly revised growth of 2.4% in May, as lockdown restrictions eased.

The ONS said the economy is still a long way off from recovering the record falls seen in March and April after tumbling into “the largest recession on record”.

The grim second-quarter figures showed the UK suffered the biggest economic hit from the pandemic in western Europe, even beating Spain’s eye-watering 18.5% drop.

(PA Graphics)

British Chancellor Rishi Sunak said that the ONS figures “confirm that hard times are here”.

“Hundreds of thousands of people have already lost their jobs, and sadly in the coming months, many more will.

“But while there are difficult choices to be made ahead, we will get through this, and I can assure people that nobody will be left without hope or opportunity.”

GDP fell 20.4% in Quarter 2 2020; with services (-19.9%) manufacturing (-20.2%) and construction (-35.0%) all experiencing record quarterly falls https://t.co/48usB8pTAK pic.twitter.com/AY4QsuMFJI

— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) August 12, 2020

It comes after ONS data on Tuesday showed around 730,000 UK workers have been removed from the company payrolls since March, while employment also dropped by the largest amount in a quarter since 2009 between May and June.

The ONS said the UK economy is now 22.1% smaller than it was at the end of 2019 and 17.2% below levels seen in February, despite two months of growth since the nadir of the recession in April when the UK was in full lockdown.

Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician at the ONS, said: “The recession brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has led to the biggest fall in quarterly GDP on record."