This week’s radical revisions to the UK’s Covid-era data have destroyed many recent narratives about its economy. Rather than Britain still producing fewer goods and services than before the pandemic, the Office for National Statistics figures show that UK gross domestic product exceeded that benchmark in late 2021.
And instead of the UK being a global outlier, marked by its feeble economic recovery from the pandemic, the new data shows it to be in the middle of the G7 pack, roughly equal with France and ahead of Germany.
The revisions show that by the end of 2021 the economy was 0.6 per cent larger than its pre-pandemic level, rather than 1.2 per cent smaller.