The UK has officially entered another recession after figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found the UK economy shrank at the end of 2023.
The figures from ONS showed that the economy contracted by 0.3 per cent in the year's final three months.
Economists had been forecasting a 0.1 per cent decline in gross domestic product (GDP) between October and December.
Now, the 0.3 per cent dip means the UK has dipped into a technical recession, defined by two or more quarters in a row of falling GDP.
When was the last recession in the UK?
The UK last entered a recession in the first half 2020, when the initial Covid-19 lockdown sent the economy plunging into reverse.
UK fell into recession at end of 2023 after economy shrank 0.3% in final three months of year, figures show https://t.co/8SgHt0Mgri
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) February 15, 2024
The 2020 recession only lasted for six months, but there was a 20.4% fall in the UK economy from April to June of the same year, making it the largest fall on record.
In 2008, the Great Recession rocked the world and the global financial crash was described as the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression.
The 2008 recession was driven by the housing market crash in the USA before it hit the UK in late 2007.
The next year, investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed marking the global economic crisis.
In the UK, the recession lasted five quarters, making it the biggest of its kind since WWII.
RECOMMENDED READING
UK falls into recession after economy shrank again at the end of 2023
Manufacturing in the UK plummeted and unemployment rose to more than 2.6 million people.
What is a recession?
According to business magazine Forbes, a recession is "a significant decline in economic activity that lasts for months or even years.
Forbes added: "Experts declare a recession when a nation’s economy experiences negative gross domestic product (GDP), rising levels of unemployment, falling retail sales, and contracting measures of income and manufacturing for an extended period of time."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here