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ONS Monthly GDP November 2020

Following six consecutive months of growth, GDP fell by 2.6% in November as increased coronavirus restrictions across the UK reduced activity within the economy. GDP remains 8.9% lower than the level seen before the full impact of the pandemic in February. In the 12-months to November, GDP declined by 8.9%. 

The Services sector (-3.4%) was the main driver of the decline in November compared with a marginal fall for Production (-0.1%) and a 1.9% rise for Construction.

Monthly index, January 2020 to November 2020, January 2020 = 100

Source: ONS

Services

Monthly services output growth fell by 2.6% in November as tighter restrictions were imposed, hampering consumer-facing industries. Services output remains 9.9% below the level of February 2020. Retail trade, food and beverage activities and the trade of motor vehicles were the main contributors to the fall in November. At the other end of the spectrum, positive growth was recorded by warehousing (+2.5%) and support activities for postal services and courier activities (+2.7%), supported by the build-up to Christmas and strong online activity around Black Friday.

On a three-month rolling basis, services output rose by 3.7%, driven by education and health which together contributed 1.48 percentage points to growth.

Production

Production output fell by 0.1% in November 2020, with three of the four sub-sectors declining. Production output remains 4.7% lower than the level in February 2020. On a monthly basis, manufacturing output grew by 0.7% driven by a notable rise in the manufacturing of motor vehicles (5.7%) as demand increased.

In the three months to November, production output rose by 2.9 %. Three out of four sub-sectors recorded a rise: manufacturing (+4.7%), water supply (+1.2%) and electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (+0.2%).

Construction

Construction output rose by 1.9% on a month-on-month basis in November as the sector remained broadly open during the tighter coronavirus restrictions during the month. Output is 0.6% above the level seen in February 2020. The monthly rise was driven by infrastructure (+9.6%) and private new housing (+4.7%).

Construction output rose by 12.4% in the quarter to November, driven by private new housing.

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