Britain bounced back much stronger from the pandemic than previously estimated, according to revised figures.
The UK’s statistics office now says the economy grew by 4.8% in 2022 against a previous estimate of 4.3%.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), problems getting information due to the pandemic were the reason for the larger-than-normal upgrade.
Real GDP per head is also now said to have grown 0.1% in 2022 rather than stagnating.
Stronger growth in transport, professional and business support services, drove the upgrade, with manufacturing and healthcare downgraded.
The revision was similar to upgrades seen in other countries, said the ONS, adding that the undershoot reflected “challenges they encountered in measuring these early estimates during the latter part of Covid-19 when countries were beginning to lift restrictions”.
The ONS said that the changes showed that “the economy did better than our initial estimates suggested” as well as point to the “sizeable changes” in the way the economy operates post-pandemic.
Growth in 2021 was revised a tad lower while the 2020s slump was less severe than first thought, the new data showed.