The UK economy is suffering its worst quarterly recession since 1979, hit by coVID-19, official figures showed on The 30 June.


The office for National Statistics said in a statement that Britain's gross domestic product contracted 2.2 percent in the first quarter of this year compared with the previous three months, the worst figure since the 2008 global financial crisis.


The agency estimates that second-quarter data will show the full impact of the covid-19 outbreak, with the UK putting in place its most stringent nationwide "lockdown" since March 23. Recent figures from the institute showed gross domestic product fell 20.4 per cent in April from the previous month, the biggest monthly decline since records began in 1997.


Agence France-Presse reported Jonathan Aso, deputy national statistician at the Office of National Statistics, as saying: "Our more specific first-quarter economic graph shows that we are in the deepest quarterly recession since 1979 [the third quarter]... "All major sectors of the economy shrank significantly in March due to the impact of coVID-19."

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However, Mr Aso noted that "the sharp fall in consumption at the end of March has led to a significant increase in household savings". This has to do with the government's generous wage subsidies to keep private-sector workers employed.


Economists forecast a double-digit decline in economic growth in the second quarter, leaving the UK in a technical recession.


"There is evidence that the UK is witnessing a record contraction in GROSS domestic product in the second quarter," said Howard Archer, economist at the Ernst & Young Club. Ernst & Young forecasts that UK gross domestic product will fall by 17 per cent in the second quarter but rebound by 10 per cent in the third.


The Bank of England has warned that coVID-19 could trigger Britain's worst recession in centuries as the global economy is devastated by the disease.


The Bank of England announced on June 18 that it would increase its bond-buying program by 100 billion pounds ($1.27) to support the British economy's response to coVID-19. The Bank of England cut interest rates twice that month to a record low of 0.1 per cent and increased its holdings of government and corporate bonds by £200bn after the coVID-19 outbreak intensified in March.