The UK’s Economic Growth Lag: An Investigation.
Quick Summary
The UK economy is struggling due to the pandemic, war in Ukraine, and rising energy and food costs. Figures from the OECD show the UK fell further than other countries in the first months of the pandemic and has not been able to make up the lost ground. Forecasts are never perfect, but they can point in the right direction and show the UK is lagging behind other rich countries.
Full Story – Why is UK economy lagging behind other rich nations? – BBC News
By Lucy HookerBusiness reporter, BBC News18 February 2023, 00:23 GMT
Updated 4 hours ago
Image source, Getty Images
The UK economy is struggling – and people are feeling it in their pockets as wages fail to keep up with rising prices.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts the UK economy will shrink this year while every other major economy will grow.
The Bank of England also forecasts a recession in the UK in 2023 – albeit shorter and less severe than previously forecast.
Perhaps it’s not surprising the outlook is bleak given the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and soaring costs of both energy and food.
But why is the UK seemingly faring worse than rich countries such as the US, Germany, and France?
Is the UK lagging?
Forecasts are never perfect. So many factors affect economic growth – from geopolitics to the weather – that, inevitably, predictions often miss the mark. But they can point in the right direction.
And the existing evidence shows other countries have taken less of a hit from the huge challenges of recent years than the UK has.
Figures from the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which looks at how rich countries are performing, show the UK economy fell further than others in the first months of the pandemic.
The UK’s pace of recovery was fast once the economy reopened – but not fast enough to make up the lost ground.
But the difference between the UK and others may not be as big as it…
