UK in 'largest recession on record' as coronavirus slashed GDP by 22%

The data follow a more modest decline of 2.2% in Q1, leaving the UK economy more than a fifth - 22.1% - smaller than it was at the end of 2019. The ONS said the fall in GDP reflected "the ongoing public health restrictions and forms of voluntary social distancing that have been put in place in response to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic". The decline in Q2 was driven, the government department explained, by a 20% fall in output in April, which was the biggest monthly drop on record and reflected widespread declines in output across the services, production and construction industr...