UK economy did not shrink in Q2 as previously thought
Jon Stone
Updated ·2 min read
UK economy did not shrink in Q2 as previously thought
The UK economy grew 0.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2022, a slightly more positive performance than previously thought.
The Office for National Statistics on Friday announced that a previous estimate of a 0.1 percent decline in GDP for the period had been revised upwards.
It means the economy did not shrink in the three months to June, has previously had been thought.
The change implies that the UK economy is not currently in recession, as the Bank of England had predicted earlier this month.
A technical recession occurs when there are two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
But the revision was not all good news for the economy. Although there was no contraction in the second quarter specifically, the overall position is worse than previously thought.
The ONS said that the level of real GDP was now estimated to be 0.2 per cent below where it was pre-coronavirus at Quarter 4 2019.
This was a downward revision that had put it 0.6 per cent above the pre-pandemic level, meaning the economy had not recovered from the shock as far as had previously been thought.
The outlook for the UK economy took a further major hit this week following a disastrous market response to the government’s budget.
UK news in pictures
29 September 2022: The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years (PA)
28 September 2022: Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government (PA)
27 September 2022: David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London (AFP/Getty)
26 September 2022: A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London (PA)
25 September 2022: Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem (PA)
24 September 2022: Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle (PA)
23 September 2022: A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London (EPA)
22 September 2022: Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London (PA)
21 September 2022: A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent (PA)
20 September 2022: Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted (PA)
19 September 2022: The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St George’s Chapel (AFP/Getty)
Interest rates are now expected to heat to 6 per cent by the end of the year, raising costs for mortgage holders.
And the central bank was forced to intervene this week to stop the collapse of the UK’s pension sector.
ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner said: “These improved figures show the economy grew in the second quarter, revised up from a small fall.
“They also show that, while household savings fell back in the most recent quarter, households saved more than we previously estimated during and after the pandemic.”
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