Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
- Latest: UK economy grew 7.5% in 2021
- Latest: UK economy shrank 0.2% in December
- But economy still grew 1% in Q4
- UK GDP report to show Omicron hit
The UK economy grew by 7.5% during 2021 as it recovered from the 2020 slump caused by the pandemic.
That’s the fastest growth since the second world war, led by a strong rebound last spring when lockdown restrictions were lifted, despite the disruption caused by Omicron in December.
In 2021 as a whole, GDP rose by an impressive 7.5%, but that needs to be put in context against the 9.4% fall in 2020.
It’s possible that GDP fell in January as that’s when Omicron caused the most people to stay off work and self-isolate. But equally, the timely indicators suggest that activity began to recover from the middle of the month.
