UK GDP Takes Major Hit From Coronavirus

The UK economy shrank by an excruciating 20.4 percent in the second quarter of 2020 when the country was at the height of its coronavirus outbreak.

After quarter on quarter GDP growth figures for Q1 already showed a fall of 2.2 percent, the country is now in a technical recession. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, the UK had recorded another weak quarter in Q4 of 2019 when GDP growth stagnated at zero percent.

As this infographic shows, the Q2 drop represents a fall much larger than declines during the 2008/09 financial crisis, which saw the economy contract by a quarterly 2.1 percent at its height. According to the Guardian, the UK economy got hit so hard since its lockdown corresponded more closely to the April-June quarter while other countries spread out losses over Q1 and Q2. Secondly, the UK economy is more service oriented than others and therefore depends on face-to-face interaction more.