Coronavirus: UK economy saw historic 20% crash in April lockdown

The UK economy shrank by 20.4% in April, the steepest contraction on record, as the country’s businesses reckoned with far-reaching coronavirus lockdown measures. The month-on-month decline in gross domestic product (GDP) completely eclipses the previous record contraction of 5.8%, which was seen just a month earlier in March, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). “Virtually all areas of the economy were hit, with pubs, education, health and car sales all giving the biggest contributions to this historic fall,” he said. Though the bank last month suggested that the country was on the precipice of its worst recession in over 300 years, it decided not to issue its traditional forecasts.