The UK is no longer a global economic outlier after a huge revision to its post-pandemic economic performance by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
GDP, the size of the country's economy, climbed back above pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2021, the ONS said last week - much higher than previously thought.
The ONS originally said the economy was 1.2% smaller than its pre-lockdown size in the final three months of 2021, but now says GDP was 0.6% higher than before the pandemic.
Fastest recovering economy in Europe
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the revisions show that the UK economy "had the fastest recovery from the pandemic of any large European economy, thanks to decisions such as furlough that protected millions of jobs."
"For that growth to continue, we now need to halve inflation", he added.
As the economy recovered from the pandemic in 2021, the ONS disclosed major sources of growth it had previously overlooked in a preview of official figures for October.
According to Simon French, chief economist at Panmure Gordon in the UK, the revisions are "extraordinary". He added: "The entire UK economic narrative has just been revised away."
Separate figures, however, indicated that the manufacturing sector shrank at its fastest pace since the pandemic last month.
John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform think- tank, said it was "worth remembering" that the ONS had previously revised 2020 GDP down by 1.7 percentage points in changes last year.
The revisions may also not have a big impact on public finances since they do not alter official tax receipts or public spending data. However, the Office for Budget Responsibility will need to take the new data into account as it prepares forecasts to accompany the Government's Autumn Statement.
House prices continue to fall
The ONS's positive revision nevertheless comes amid turbulent times, with a different statistical release showed that the average UK house price fell in August at the sharpest annual rate seen in 14 years.
Data released by Halifax, the UK's biggest mortgage lender, showed that prices fell by 4.6% in August, marking the biggest year-on-year decrease since 2009.
Over the past 12 months, the typical UK home's price has dropped by about £14,000 to £279,569. While that's the lowest level since early 2022, average prices are still £40,000 higher than before the pandemic.
The latest decline indicates that homeowners continue to be deterred by high interest rates, which policymakers have hiked in an attempt to combat inflation, but have, in turn, increasingly raised mortgage costs.
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