UK's industrial output sees largest monthly fall of 20.3 pc in April

The month-on-month index of the industrial output in the United Kingdom declined by over 20 per cent in April, the biggest drop since the UK started to report such statistics, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday.

The month-on-month index of the industrial output in the United Kingdom declined by over 20 percent in April, the biggest drop since the UK started to report such statistics, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday. According to the office, the drop shows the early impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the country's economy.

"The production industries had a strong decline in output of 20.3 percent during April 2020 ... This was the largest monthly fall since records for production output began in January 1968," the ONS said. The biggest fall of 24.3 percent was recorded in the manufacturing sector that accounts for 75 percent of the production industries.

The ONS said that the UK's GDP fell by 20.4 percent in April when compared to March also a record decline since London started to provide monthly GDP statistics in 1997.