UK’s economy continued to recover in the month of July as lockdown rules were eased. The economy grew by 6.6 percent during the month, according to official figures.
It was the third consecutive month that the economy has expanded.
UK GDP in July was 18.6 percent higher than its April 2020 low; however, remained 11.7 percent below the pre-pandemic levels seen in February.
In a statement, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the UK “has still only recovered just over half of the lost output caused by the coronavirus.”
ONS Director of Economic Statistics Darren Morgan said in a statement, “While it has continued steadily on the path towards recovery, the UK economy still has to make up nearly half of the GDP lost since the start of the pandemic.”
In the month of June, a leading economic forecaster said that the UK’s economy is expected to shrink by 8 percent this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, and it is unlikely that the economy will recover to pre-Covid-19 levels until 2023.
Official figures showed Britain’s economy shrank by a record 20.4 percent in April, indicating that the region is on its way to witness its worst recession in the last three centuries.
An EY report further revealed that consumer spending could slump 17 percent in the second quarter and by 8.7 percent over the year as a whole – before rebounding in 2021.
Earlier this year, the World Bank predicted that the global economy will shrink by 5.2 percent this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.