National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) reported on Friday that its estimates revealed the UK’s economy is likely to grow by about 7 percent in the three months to August. Economists had forecast a 6.3 percent drop. In the third quarter, GDP is seen to show a growth of around 15 percent, NIESR added.

NIESR also noted that the ONS statistics published this morning revealed the UK economy contracted by 7.6 percent in the three months to July, largely in line with what the institute had forecast last month.

“There has been a welcome resumption of economic growth in the third quarter as the lockdown eased, signaling the end of a short, yet severe, recession in the first half of the year,” noted Dr. Kemar Whyte, Senior Economist of Macroeconomic Modelling and Forecasting at NIESR. “However, despite this recovery, we have still only recovered just over half of the output lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The evolution of the pandemic and the scale of expected withdrawals of government support pose downside risks on the pace of the recovery as we move to the end of this terrible year.”