The UK economy crashed 19.8% between April and June, the Office for National Statistics has said. However, the record figure is less severe than the initial 20.4% estimated after the coronavirus outbreak forced parts of the UK into a three month lockdown and sent unemployment soaring.
In May, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the economy shrank by 2.2% in the first quarter of 2020, after the country hit a standstill, but that figure has now been revised up to 2.5%.
The ONS said activity plunged 5.8% in March alone, sending first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) tumbling in the biggest fall since the end of 2008 at the height of the financial crisis.