Impact of 'lockdown' on the economy

The UK economy has shrunk by 20.4% due to the COVID-19 lockdown - more than any time on record. It makes the 'Great Recession' of 2008/9 look trivial. Was there a better was to tackle COVID-19? How do we get the economy back on its feet? 

impacts of lockdown.jpg

The chart above shows the UK monthly GDP index since 1997 up to the present day. Prior to COVID-19, the last great ‘shock’ to the UK economy came with the ‘Great Recession’ following the global financial crisis of 2007/8. As the far right of the chart shows, the damage done to the economy by COVID-19 lockdown measures is far more extreme in both the magnitude and speed of the fall.

The contraction of 20.4% in April 2020 has been described as ‘unprecedented’ by the Office for National Statistics. In just two months of imposed lockdown measures, 18 years of economic growth has been wiped out.

A second quarter of negative economic growth will confirm that the UK is in recession. This seems almost inevitable, begging the question: could the UK’s response to the pandemic have been handled better?

Drastic steps will be required to get the economy back on its feet and recover from the damage.

Dylan Winn-Brown

Dylan Winn-Brown is a freelance web developer & Squarespace Expert based in the City of London. 

https://winn-brown.co.uk
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