LONDON, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- The British gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by a record 19.8 percent in Quarter 2 (April to June) 2020 compared with the previous three months amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the British Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Wednesday.
Although the latest revised reading was slightly better than initial estimates, which was published earlier at 20.4 percent plummet in Q2 compared with the first quarter, it reflected the largest quarterly contraction caused by the coronavirus pandemic since records began in 1955, the survey revealed.
Revised figures showed the widespread fall of output in the services, production and manufacturing sectors, losing quarterly by 19.2 percent, 16.3 percent and 21.1 percent respectively.
"More complete data has not substantially changed the economic picture, with the UK economy still shrinking by around a fifth in the first half of the year, far bigger than any previous contraction on record," said Jonathan Athow, ONS deputy national statistical for economic statistics.
Despite the rise in activity in recent months, "the level of GDP is still considerably lower than it was in February", said the ONS, showing that GDP increased by 6.6 percent in July, following monthly increases in May and June.
The official statistics body said the output of many service industries was "still considerably below" their pre-lockdown levels, most notably in hospitality and recreation industries.
"In contrast, wholesale and retail has recovered much of its loss and is now broadly in line with levels before restrictions were applied," said the ONS.
"The bulk of the pain of Q2's slump in GDP had been borne by the government rather than households and businesses," tweeted the Capital Economics UK, an economic research consultancy based in London.
"But with recovery flattening, fiscal support fading and the full scale of the fallout in unemployment yet to be felt, that will soon change," added the consultancy.
Howard Archer, chief economic adviser at EY ITEM Club, an economics forecasting group, said that "the release of a revised and rebased set of national accounts by the ONS shows some modest changes to the UK GDP performance, but does not fundamentally change the picture of the economy."
ONS's data came at a time when countries, such as Britain, China, Russia and the United States, are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines.
The British government's Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance said earlier this month that it is possible that some vaccine could be available in small amounts later this year, but it is more likely that a vaccine will be available early next year, although that is not guaranteed. Enditem
