UK GDP increased by 7.5%

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the United Kingdom grew by 7.5 % in 2021, thus registering the highest rate of expansion among the main advanced economies, after having suffered a contraction of 9.4 % in 2020, according to published data by the National Statistical Office (ONS).

However, as a result of the impact of the omicron variant, in December the second largest European economy registered a contraction of 0.2 % compared to the previous month, when it had grown by 0.7 %, two tenths less than estimated previously.

In this way, the GDP of the United Kingdom reached in December 2021 a level similar to that registered in February 2020, the last full month before the introduction of restrictions to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, in quarterly terms, the British economy expanded in the fourth quarter at a rate of 1 % compared to the previous three months and was still four tenths below the GDP registered in the last quarter of 2019.

Last week, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England decided to raise the reference interest rate for its operations by 25 basis points, placing it at 0.50 %, in response to the rise in inflation, which could exceed 7 % this spring.

K. Tovar

Source: Swissinfo