Britain’s Office of National Statistics released its second quarter economic data showing the nation’s GDP dropped 20.4% from the previous quarter, the Washington Post reports.
“The recession brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has led to the biggest fall in quarterly GDP on record,” said ONS deputy national statistician Jonathan Athow, noting that Britain saw the worst economic downturn in Europe.
With the first quarter GDP dropping 2.2%, the two consecutive quarters officially designated a recession in the UK.
Britain also saw the most deaths due to coronavirus in Europe. Though it has the third-largest population in Europe, it has 50% more COVID fatalities than any other European nation. Worldwide, it only trails the US, Brazil and Mexico.
“We’ve already got the worst excess death rate in Europe — now we’re on course for the worst recession too,” tweeted Anneliese Dodds, the opposition Labour Party’s point person on the economy.