Only Russia's Economy Worse Than UK's In G20, Says OECD

Britain faces being the only G7 country to see its economy shrink this year, with only Russia performing worse among the G20.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) the UK’s GDP is expected to fall by 0.2%.

Russia’s GDP is expected to contract by 2.5%.

The fastest-growing countries are expected to be China (5.3%) and India (5%).

In 2024 the UK’s economy is expected to grow about 0.9%, again only ahead of Russia but on par with the United States and South Africa.

Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, said the British economy was “more resilient” than many expected.

“Earlier this week I set out a plan to grow the economy by unleashing business investment and helping more people into work, alongside extending our significant energy bill support to help with rising prices, made possible by our windfall tax on energy profits,” he said.

But Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, said: “It doesn’t have to be like this. “After 13 years of Tory failure what we need now is the ambition to grow our economy so every part of Britain feels better off,” she said.

In the wake of Hunt’s Budget on Wednesday, experts warned households faced “continuing pain” over the next year.

In its analysis of the chancellor’s announcements, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said while inflation may be coming down, prices remain much higher than two years ago.