Britain faces the worst recession among G7 partners, economists predict

03 January 2023 , 15:40

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Rishi Sunak warned the UK faces one of the weakest recoveries (Image: PA)

Britain faces one of the worst recessions among its partner countries in the G7 group in 2023, economists have predicted.

According to a bleak Financial Times annual survey of 101 leading UK-based economists, high inflation will linger for longer than other countries.

They also suggested the country could face one of the weakest recoveries.

Independent labour market economist John Philpott said: "The 2023 recession will feel much worse than the economic impact of the pandemic."

Figures from Consensus Economics, published in the FT, forecast the UK economy shrinking by 1% in 2023.

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This is compared with just 0.1% for the eurozone as a whole and growth of 0.25% in the United States.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said in November the OBR judged the UK was already in recession (Kin Cheung/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

Labour's Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: "More dire warnings about the state of the UK economy. It didn’t have to be this way.

"The Tories have run down our economy and public services - and we are all paying the price."

It comes as Brits face a cost-of-living crisis with surging energy bills and hikes in the cost of food eating into families' budgets.

Speaking in November the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told MPs that the Office for Budget Responsibility judged the UK was already in recession.

At the time the OBR also forecast that household disposable income would plummet in real terms by 7.1% - the biggest drop since records began in 1956.

Just before his Autumn Statement, the Bank of England also issued a gloomy warning that the country could face its longest recession in 100 years.

Earlier this week the head of the International Monetary Fund warned that a third of the global economy will see a recession this year.

"Even countries that are not in recession, it would feel like recession for hundreds of millions of people," Kristalina Georgieva said.

She warned that 2023 will be a "tougher" year than 2022 with the three big economies - the US, the EU, and China - "all slowing down simultaneously".

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A Treasury spokesperson said: “High inflation driven by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is slowing economic growth across the world. No country is immune, with the IMF predicting a third of the world economy will be in recession in 2022 or 2023.

“To get the British economy back on track, we have a plan that will help to halve inflation this year, reduce the depth of recession and lay the foundations for long-term growth through record investment in infrastructure and new industries.”

Ashley Cowburn