Official confirmation from the ONS that the UK economy was in a recession in the first half of the year shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody. As a direct result of the nationwide lockdown between 23 March and mid-May, the economy contracted by 2.2% in the first quarter followed by a record 20.4% fall in the second. Depicted on a chart, the precipitous drop in such a short period of time is remarkable and unlike anything that has happened before.

Of course, a widespread shutdown in activity to contain a global pandemic is new to us all and the full national accounts data provide the clearest picture of how badly different parts of the economy were affected. By sector, industrial production declined 16.9%, services fell 19.9% and construction contracted by 35.0%. Spending by households and investment from businesses also fell by around a quarter and a third respectively. As with the overall GDP figure, these are all record declines.

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