UK Economy Enters Recession Stemming from Coronavirus Lockdowns

LONDON, KOMPAS.com - Great Britain is in a recession after data indicated that the UK economy contracted by a record 20.4 percent in the second quarter of 2020.

Nationwide coronavirus lockdowns put pressure on the national economy in a bid to control Covid-19 virus transmissions.

The United Kingdom joined other European countries in locking down its economy on March 23.

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The Office for National Statistics further indicated a 2.2 percent quarter-on-quarter contraction in the first three months of the year.

As such, the UK economy is in recession — commonly defined as two quarters of contraction.

Britain's recession is deeper than those recorded by comparable economies in Europe, notably Germany and France, or the United States.

Unlike others, Britain's statistics agency provides monthly growth figures and these offer some hope that the economy is healing as lockdown restrictions are eased.

In June, the British economy grew by a monthly 8.7 percent.

“The economy began to bounce back in June with shops reopening, factories beginning to ramp up production and house-building continuing to recover," said statistician Jonathan Athow.

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The British government hopes additional measures such as the reopening of pubs and restaurants will allow the economy to rebound further.

But given the scale of the contraction, it's inevitable unemployment will sky-rocket in coming months.

“I’ve said before that hard times were ahead, and today’s figures confirm that hard times are here," said Treasury chief Rishi Sunak.

“Hundreds of thousands of people have already lost their jobs, and sadly in the coming months many more will,” stated Rishi.