Prime Minister Johnson claims that we have grown faster during the pandemic than continental neighbours, especially France. Let us be charitable, and say that he is using very selective data - but even that is not very honest. For the bigger picture, GDP cumulative growth from the last quarter of 2019 to the third quarter of 2021, see the graphic above, taken from an OECD news release of last month. That shows us stuck between Mexico and Japan, both of whom have had problems over the period. We have been progressing more slowly than the EU as a whole, and markedly more slowly than France. Given the reports of trading difficulties with the EU starting on 1st January, one should not expect the performance to improve any time soon.
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According to official estimates, the UK did return to pre-pandemic levels of economic activity by the end of last year. However, this Reuters report states that other G7 nations were ahead of us in doing so.
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