For the first time in the last eleven years, the UK economy suffered its biggest slump on record between April and June as coronavirus lockdown measures pushed the country officially into recession.
The economy shrank 20.4% compared with the first three months of the year.
Household spending plunged as shops were ordered to close, while factory and construction output also fell.
BREAKING: UK is officially in #recession as the economy shrinks by a record 20.4% in the second quarter of the year.
It’s the first time in 11 years that the UK has gone into recession.https://t.co/NxDh5YlaHk pic.twitter.com/oMZ3dVqZYl— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) August 12, 2020
This pushed the UK into its first technical recession – defined as two consecutive quarters of economic decline – since 2009.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak told the BBC that the government was “grappling with something that is unprecedented” and that it was “a very difficult and uncertain time”.
But shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds blamed Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the scale of the economic decline, saying: “A downturn was inevitable after lockdown – but Johnson’s jobs crisis wasn’t.”
