Jeremy Hunt says new GDP figures prove anti-Britain gloomsters wrong

Jeremy Hunt has hailed news today that the UK economy has grown much fast than believed post-pandemic. The UK received a major boost this morning as revised figures show the economy recovered from the pandemic even faster than Germany, France and Japan. Until today, Britain was believed to be the only G7 economy that was still smaller than before Covid. However the Office for National Statistics has sharply amended its estimate for the size of the economy, suggesting Britain’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic may be much closer to that of other big countries than previously believed. The ONS said Britain’s economy in the fourth quarter of 2021 was in fact 0.6 percent larger than the final quarter of 2019 – much higher than previous figures saying it was 1.2 percent smaller. Annual growth for 2021 was revised up a significant 1.1 percentage points to 8.7 percent, while the crash caused by the 2020 lockdown was revised down by 0.6 points. In their last set of data, the ONS said that in the three months to the end of June 2023, Britain’s economy was still 0.2 percent smaller than pre-pandemic, leading to mass criticism of the Government’s economic programme. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the news ‘shows that once again those determined to talk down the British economy have been proved wrong’. ‘There are many battles still to win, most of all against inflation so we can ease cost of living pressures of families. But if we stick to the plan we can look forward to healthy growth which according to the IMF will be faster than Germany, France, and Italy in the long term.’ The new revision gives No. 10 and Rishi Sunak a major boost, especially given ‘increased economic growth’ is one of his five key pledges. The ONS has said the revision upwards is because they have ‘richer data from our annual surveys and administrative data’. ‘We are now able to measure costs incurred by businesses directly and we can adjust for prices at a far more detailed level.’ The news means Britain is no longer a global outlier in economic growth post-pandemic. It also provides a boost for Brexit, given many had accused Britain’s departure from the bloc of being the cause of the UK’s inability to regain the size of its pre-pandemic economy. Economist Julian Jessop asked: ‘Maybe Brexit Britain isn’t such a laggard after all?’ However trade expert David Henig said that such a big revision to official statistics now raises questions “about the reliability of ONS data’ going forward.