Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 19, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleThe UK economy was 2.2% larger by the end of 2023 than pre-pandemic levels, according to ONS revisions, highlighting growth in manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's economy at the end of 2023 is now estimated to have been 2.2% bigger than its peak immediately before the coronavirus pandemic, up slightly from a previous estimate of 1.9%, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday.
The ONS said the revision followed a regular update to the way it calculates gross domestic product including improved research and development data and changes to its measurement of the activity of large multinational companies.
"This work has had the effect of boosting pharmaceuticals and the manufacturing sector as their directly owned production abroad now counts towards UK GDP," Craig McLaren, head of national accounts at the ONS, said in a blog.
"Overall, there is little impact on growth from all these improvements, with average annual growth over the period 1998 to 2023 remaining at 1.8% and average quarterly growth remaining at 0.5%," McLaren said.
Britain's post-pandemic recovery has lagged behind that of many other economies, something Prime Minister Keir Starmer and finance minister Rachel Reeves have promised voters they will change following last year's national election.
At the end of June this year, British GDP was 4.5% higher than at the end of December 2019 compared with 6.0% growth in the euro zone and almost 13% in the U.S, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
However, Germany's economy was only 0.3% bigger than before the pandemic.
(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Kate Holton and James Davey)
Economic growth refers to the increase in the production of goods and services in an economy over a period of time, typically measured as the percentage increase in real GDP.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics, providing essential data about the economy, population, and society at national and local levels.
Multinational companies are enterprises that operate in multiple countries, managing production or delivering services in at least one country other than their home country.
Post-pandemic recovery refers to the process of economic and social rebuilding following the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on restoring growth and stability.
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