The UK economy shrank by more than 20% in April — the largest monthly loss on record — due to coronavirus restrictions

• The UK economy shrank by 20.4% in April, according to figures outlined by the Office for National Statistics on Friday morning, the largest monthly fall in its history.
• "April's fall in GDP is the biggest the UK has ever seen, more than three times larger than last month and almost 10 times larger than the steepest pre-COVID-19 fall," Jonathan Athow, the deputy national statistician for economic statistics at the ONS, said, according to the BBC.

The UK economy shrank by 20.4% in April, according to figures outlined by the Office for National Statistics on Friday morning.

"April's fall in GDP is the biggest the UK has ever seen, more than three times larger than last month and almost 10 times larger than the steepest pre-COVID-19 fall," Jonathan Athow, the deputy national statistician for economic statistics at the ONS, said, according to the BBC.

According to Athow, virtually all areas of the economy were hit, though "pubs, education, health and car sales all giving the biggest contributions to this historic fall."

Athow added that the UK's trade with the rest of the world declined because of the coronavirus pandemic. Food-and-beverage services were reported as one of the "largest falling services industries due to restaurants and pubs being closed for the duration of April 2020."

The UK put lockdown measures into place on March 23 to stem the spread of the virus. COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has infected more than 292,000 people in the UK and killed more than 41,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The lockdown measures allowed people in England to leave their homes for only essential activities: exercise, buying food, medical appointments, and travel to work if deemed essential.

At the end of May, new measures were introduced lifting some of these restrictions.