UK Experiences Worst Economic Downturn in History Due to Coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic has caused more than just deaths and unemployment in the UK; it also resulted in economies falling apart as recessions begin to show their effects, some of which go deeper than previously thought.

Massive economic downturn

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the country has had two consecutive quarters of declining output and confirms what experts have feared to be true since the beginning of the global outbreak.

According to the BBC, the statistics have reminded experts, analysts, and government officials of some parts of the recession that have previously been overlooked. The numbers suggest that in April, May, and June, the output from the health and social care sectors has declined.

Despite some parts of hospitals across the nation working rigorously and some medical teams and care, home staff, in general, recorded a massive 27 percent drop in activity.

The education sector saw a 34 percent decline in output, according to experts. The numbers did not count the informal education sector where teachers taught from home through online mediums while the formal, salaried teaching personnel were told to lockdown inside their homes.

The water supply and sewerage sector also recorded a decrease of six percent in output. The sector usually does not get much attention during a recession, but the decline was one measure of the economic downturn.

Several countries in the world have experienced massive recessions, not just the UK. The recent downturn has been caused by the massive economic devastation that the coronavirus pandemic has caused.

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The worst in history

Experts say that the UK economy has seen the brunt of the world's largest decline among major economies. Compared to the first three months of the year, it saw a massive overall drop of 20.4 percent, as reported by Express.

The decline is the first technical recession the region has experienced since 2009. The quarterly GDP crash that analysts recorded is much worse than anything since 1955. The first quarter of the year only recorded a 2.2 percent decline, in comparison.

The UK's decline is not as bad as Spain's 22.7 percent decline but recorded twice the size of the downturn compared to Germany and the United States.

The ONS said the UK's economy started to jump back to its former glory in June when government officials eased restrictions on public movement and slowly opened establishments.

If comparing on a month-to-month basis, the month of June saw an increase of 8.7 percent in the economy's status, which followed a 1.8 percent increase in May.

In July, data showed 730,000 fewer people in the country receiving payrolls since the beginning of the lockdown.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, said that the statistics suggested Britain was experiencing an unprecedentedly difficult financial period due to the coronavirus pandemic which some consider the worst in history.

Sunak said that hundreds of thousands of people have already lost their jobs to the recession, and many more will follow suit. However, he said that despite the difficult choices that officials must make in this time of crisis, he positively assured citizens that they would continue to give hope and opportunity to every person.