UK revises up 2022 economic growth to 4.8 per cent

Britain’s economy grew more strongly than previously thought in 2022, according to revised official data that gave more weight to the oil and gas sector which was buoyed by high prices and the health service as it caught up with COVID-19 backlogs.

The Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday it now believed that Britain’s economy grew by 4.8 per cent in 2022, up from a previous estimate of 4.3 per cent.

Revisions to GDP in the two years before that – when the economy slumped by 10.3 per cent in 2020 during the pandemic before bouncing back by 8.6 per cent in 2021 – were minimal, the ONS said as it published its annual revisions to past data.

The ONS said it had updated the way it weights sectors of the economy within the overall GDP data, with mining and quarrying now larger relative to other sectors, reflecting the increase in oil and gas prices.

The health sector was also given more weight as it was busier than usual after the pandemic.

Manufacturing, with bigger costs reducing its contribution to the economy, and the accommodation and food sector, which has not returned to its pre-pandemic levels, were both relatively smaller than they were in 2019, the ONS said.

The revisions would be extended to data for 2023 and 2024 so far on Sept. 30, the ONS said.