The UK economy continued to rebound in April, with this morning’s update from theOffice for National Statistics showing GDP grew 2.3 per cent — slightly better than the consensus prediction of 2.2 per cent. The reopening of non-essential shops and outdoor hospitality on 12 April contributed to the boost. GDP now sits 3.7 per cent below its pre-pandemic levels, the closest we’ve come to achieving full recovery.
Forecasters are increasingly confident that we’ll be back to pre-pandemic levels in 2021, even possibly before Q4. Capital Economics says ‘early indicators suggest that GDP growth was strong in May as well,’ when more indoor activity opened and numbers on indoor and outdoor socialising relaxed further. Oxford Economics agrees next month should see ‘another strong gain of more than 2 per cent’ which would get us tantalisingly close to where we were in February 2020.
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