Britain recorded its biggest fall in output in more than 300 years in 2020 when it faced the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a larger decline than any other major economy, updated official figures showed on Monday.
Gross domestic product fell by 11% in 2020, the Office for National Statistics said. This was a bigger drop than any of the ONS’s previous estimates and the largest fall since 1709, according to historical data hosted by the Bank of England.
British statisticians regularly update GDP estimates as more data becomes available.
The ONS’s initial estimates had already suggested that in 2020 Britain suffered its biggest fall in output since the ‘Great Frost’ of 1709. The latest downward revision makes it greater than Spain’s, which recorded a 10.8% fall in output. The downward revision in GDP reflected lower contributions from healthcare and retailers than previously thought.
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