UK GDP fell more than forecast in April.

According to the report from Office for National Statistics, UK GDP fell by 10.4% in the three months to April, as government restrictions on movement dramatically reduced economic activity. All the headline sectors provided a negative contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the three months to April 2020. The services sector fell by 9.9%, production by 9.5% and construction by 18.2%. The impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) were seen right across the economy, with nearly all sub-sectors falling in the three months to April.

Monthly gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 20.4% in April 2020, the biggest monthly fall since the series began in 1997, following a fall of 5.8% in March 2020. Economists had expected a 18.4% decrease.

Commenting on today’s GDP figures, Jonathan Athow, Deputy National Statistician for Economic Statistics, said:

“April’s fall in GDP is the biggest the UK has ever seen, more than three times larger than last month and almost ten times larger than the steepest pre-covid-19 fall. In April the economy was around 25% smaller than in February. Virtually all areas of the economy were hit, with pubs, education, health and car sales all giving the biggest contributions to this historic fall. Manufacturing and construction also saw significant falls, with manufacture of cars and housebuilding particularly badly affected. The UK’s trade with the rest of the world was also badly affected by the pandemic, with large falls in both the import and export of cars, fuels, works of art and clothing.”