ONS revision shows UK financial crisis was not as bad as thought
THE RECESSION which hit the UK in the aftermath of the financial crisis was less severe than initially thought, and the country returned to its previous peak size at a much earlier date.
Revisions released yesterday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday showed that GDP dropped six per cent from the first quarter of 2008, rather than a 7.2 per cent collapse as it previously thought. At the end of 2012, GDP was actually 1.7 per cent below the 2008 peak level, rather than four per cent as previously thought.
The change means that the British economy probably pushed to a new peak level in 2013, rather than this year.
“The figures still suggest that there is scope for a prolonged period of above-trend growth in output,” said Samuel Tombs of Capital Economics.