Britain's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 16.0 percent in the third quarter (Q3) 2020 due to the easing of lockdown restrictions, but was still 8.6 percent below where it was at the end of 2019, the British Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Tuesday.

"The bounce back in Quarter 3 2020 has been primarily driven by a recovery in private consumption," said the ONS, noting that business investment in the period performed much weaker than the household consumption.

Despite a bounce back in Q3, analysts said the last quarter this year is expected to see a double-dip recession due to the further lockdown measures in tackling the resurgence of infection cases.

"While a double-dip recession is a clear possibility if the Tier Four COVID-19 restrictions are extended into 2021, Q3's high saving rate provides optimism that as long as vaccines are effective and widespread, GDP will stage a strong rebound in the second half of next year," said Ruth Gregory, an economist at the London-based economic analysis firm Capital Economics.

In addition, the public sector net borrowing was estimated to reach 31.6 billion pounds (about 42.5 billion U.S. dollars) in November 2020, 26.0 billion pounds (about 34.9 billion dollars) higher year-on-year, said the ONS.

"November's surge in borrowing is unlikely to be reversed much over the next few months as the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions keep many businesses closed," said Thomas Pugh, an economist at Capital Economics.

"This will only increase talk of how to pay for the crisis, but the successful roll out of vaccines next year and a rapid rebound in GDP could mean that the deficit returns to its pre-crisis level within the next few years without the need for much fiscal tightening," Pugh added.

ONS' figures came after another 33,364 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 2,073,511, according to official figures released Monday.

The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 215 to 67,616, the data showed.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines.

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)