National Income

(asked on 9th March 2022) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the change in UK GDP since December 2019; and what assessment they have made of how this compares to (1) the US, (2) France, and (3) Canada, in the same period.


Answered by
Baroness Penn Portrait
Baroness Penn
Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
This question was answered on 23rd March 2022

According to data from the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS), the change in real GDP from the three months to December 2019 to the three months to December 2021 (the latest available quarterly data) was -0.4%. This leaves the UK in the middle of the pack compared to other G7. The below table depicts this using publicly available data in the same period for real GDP in the rest of the G7.

3m to Dec 2021 relative to 3m to Dec 2019

Real GDP change (%)

US

3.2

France

0.9

Canada

0.1

Italy

-0.3

UK

-0.4

Japan

-0.4

Germany

-1.1

However, the ONS has also advised that it is difficult to compare real GDP during the pandemic, due to differences in measurement of output in health and education. The ONS has noted that estimates of nominal GDP are more comparable. In nominal GDP terms, for the same period the UK is ranked 3rd compared to others in the G7 (see the below table).

3m to Dec 2021 relative to 3m to Dec 2019

Nominal GDP change (%)

US

10.7

Canada

10.7

UK

4.9

France

4.3

Germany

4.3

Italy

0.9

Japan

-1.7

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