LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s economy grew by a faster-than expected 1.0% in June, boosted by the huge services sector as people resumed going to see their doctors following the pandemic and after many hospitality firms were allowed to resume indoor service in mid-May, official data showed on Thursday.
A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to month-on-month growth of 0.8% in gross domestic product.
The Office for National Statistics also revised its estimate for growth in May down to 0.6% from an originally reported 0.8% increase but output growth in April was revised up to 2.2% from 2.0%.
Gross domestic product in the three months to the end of June was 22.2% higher than in the same period of 2020, reflecting the impact of last year’s first coronavirus shutdown on much of the economy which contrasted with the lifting of restrictions in the second quarter of this year.
The huge services sector grew by 1.5% in June from May, with health activities contributing the most to services output and food and beverage services up by more than 10%.
Industrial output shrank by 0.7%, as maintenance of oil field production sites dragged on the sector, but manufacturing grew by 0.2%.
Construction output fell by 1.3%.
GDP was 2.2% smaller at the end of June than it was in February 2020, before the pandemic struck the country.
The Bank of England forecasts it will regain its pre-COVID size in the final quarter of this year, later than the United States.
(Reporting by William Schomberg and Andy Bruce; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
