This archive report was first published on 13 May 2020.
On May 13, 2020, the UK's Office for National Statistics released data showing that the country's economy contracted 2% in the first three months of the year, largely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The contraction marked the largest slump in the UK's GDP since the global financial crisis in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the ONS.
Britain's economic output dived by a record 5.8% in March from the previous month, with the ONS attributing the decline to the widespread disruption caused by the pandemic and the government's measures to reduce transmission of the virus.
"There has been a widespread disruption to economic activity," the ONS stated.
Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician for economic statistics at the ONS, noted that nearly every aspect of the economy was hit in March, leading to a record monthly fall in growth.
"Services and construction saw record declines on the month with education, car sales and restaurants all falling substantially," Athow said.
However, some industries, including IT support and the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, soaps, and cleaning products, did experience growth.
The Bank of England had previously warned that the economic paralysis could lead to the worst recession in centuries, and the ONS data confirmed that the UK's output was likely to crash by 14% this year.
