U.K. Downturn Even Worse Than Previously Estimated

According to previous estimates, British GDP fell a "mere" 4.1% in the year to Q1 2009, and 1.9% (7.5% at an annual rate) compared to Q4 2008. That was bad, but still not as bad as the euro area average of 4.8% and 2.5% respectively.

Now revised estimates say that U.K. GDP fell 4.9% compared to 4 quarters ago, and 2.4% compared to the previous quarter, meaning that the U.K. slump is no longer considered to be less severe than the euro area slump. These revised numbers also says that the U.K. recession definitly started already Q2 2008, whereas the previous numbers suggested that GDP started to shrink in the third quarter of 2008.