UK recovered quicker than forecast after first Covid lockdown

ONS revises GDP figure for the third quarter to record 16% but government borrowing surges

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Britain's economy staged a faster recovery in the third quarter of the year than was first estimated, after the ending of the first lockdown triggered a rapid return to work.

The Office for National Statistics said national income, or GDP, increased by a record 16% in the three months to the end of September rather than the 15.5% in its first estimate. This leaves the economy 8.6% smaller than the year before, rather than the 9.7% initially estimated.