The predictions show the devastating impact of COVID-19,which has led to a virtual shutdown of vast swathes of the economy. Here's how those estimates measure up with centuries of British economic history.
The Bank of England's best estimates for historic GDP growth show such a drop would leave 2020 among the worst years in English or British economic history - with the 14th biggest fall in GDP since 1270 (the earliest year for which there is an estimate).
Still,it's somewhat short of the plunge in 1629,the first year of King Charles I's period of"personal rule"following the dissolution of Parliament.
The academics who compiled the data acknowledged it may be hazy in some ways,but said comparisons should still be valid."Whatever shortcomings these estimates undoubtedly have,they have one redeeming merit:they are internally consistent,insofar as the component estimates of population,sectoral output and total output really fit together,"they wrote.
If the Bank of England is correct,the fall will be the biggest since 1706,a year before the Acts of Union that created the UK.
By these figures,we are beyond the territory of years or decades - this could be the biggest plunge in centuries,and the worst since the UK was formed. If the Bank of England is correct,the fall will be the biggest since 1706,a year before the Acts of Union that created the UK.
On a quarterly basis,the readings are even worse. The Bank predicts the economy is currently about 30 per cent smaller than a year ago,and will shrink 25 per cent across the current quarter (from April until the end of June).