The 0.5% increase is due to the travel and tourism and healthcare sectors, 2 of the most affected during the pandemic.
Even with the rising cost of living, the UK economy resumed growth in May. A report from Office of National Statistics released this Wednesday (13.Jul.2022) showed that the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) increased by 0.5% in the month. In April, the index shrank 0.2%. The service sector was the one that grew the most. Here’s the intact of the report (1 MB).
Read the evolution of British GDP from January 2008 to May 2020:
According to the report, services grew by 0.4%. They were mainly driven by spending on travel and tourism (11%) and medical care (2.1%), which registered sharp declines at the beginning of the pandemic.
The advance of travel and tourism in the European summer meets a pent-up demand. As a result, airports face a period of chaos, with long delays and cancellations.
Despite the general increase, in the category of consumer-oriented services, the retail trade registered a decrease of 0.5%. The data is a reflection of inflation in the United Kingdom, which has reached its highest level in 40 years. The country’s 12-month CPI (Consumer Price Index) rate grew from 9% in April.
Sports and recreational activities fell more sharply: 5.3%.
Non-consumer services grew 0.5% in May, after a 0.8% drop in the previous month.
The productive sector increased 0.9%. The increase is due to growth of 1.4% in industry and 0.3% in the supply of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning. Civil construction also grew: 1.5%.
The next meeting of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee will be in August. The entity is expected to raise interest rates again by 0.5 percentage point in an attempt to control inflation.
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