IBISWorld presents a collection of fast facts for the different sectors of the UK economy.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), agriculture output recorded a 0.1% increase in March 2021. Output remained 12.2% below levels recorded in February 2020.
According to forecasts from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, disruption to markets due to the coronavirus pandemic contributed to a 21% decline in total income from farming in the United Kingdom during 2020.
Average weekly earnings for farm workers remained steady in 2020 according to ONS data, recording an annual increase of just 0.2% between in 2020.
According to the National Pig Association, delays faced by pig farmers have left 100,000 animals unable to enter the food chain. These delays have been attributed to excessive bureaucracy and new rules governing exports since the end of the transition period between the United Kingdom and the European Union, as well as coronavirus-related supply chain disruption.
According to provisional data published by the ONS, 17,200 employees in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector remained on furlough at the end of March 2021. This is down from 20,500 employments furloughed at the end of February 2021.

According to National Grid Electricity System Operator, Great Britain’s electricity system was the greenest it has ever been at 1.00pm on Easter Bank Holiday Monday. Favourable weather conditions and low demand for power meant that low-carbon energy sources were able to make up almost 80% of Britain’s power, while levels of carbon pollution for each unit of electricity consumed dropped to 39 grams, the lowest ever recorded for the grid.
British Gas owner Centrica plc reported a 15% decline in electricity demand from its UK business customers over the three months through March 2021, compared with the same period in 2020.
On 20 April 2021, the UK government set in law a target to reduce emissions by 78% by 2045 compared to 1990 levels. This would bring the UK more than three-quarters of the way to its long-term target of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
According to provisional data reported by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, renewables overtook fossil fuels in the UK’s energy mix for the first time in 2020, accounting for 42.9% of total electricity generated compared with 38.5% generated from fossil fuels. This was supported by a coronavirus-induced 4.7% decline in total electricity consumption and a significant increase in renewable generation capacity, particularly for offshore wind.
As part of a plan for a green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, the UK government has implemented a Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. This includes £12 billion of government investment to help the UK reach updated climate change targets, including a hydrogen production target of 5GW by 2030, and expanding offshore wind generation capacity to 40GW by 2030. The government has also established a Floating Offshore Wind Demonstration Programme, a competitive funding scheme which aims to support the development of this emerging technology in line with targets to increase floating offshore wind capacity to 1GW by 2030.

According to the ONS, construction output grew by 5.8% in March 2021, driven by growth in new work and repair and maintenance activity. Output for the month was 2.4% above its February 2020 level.
Nevertheless, output in the construction sector remained 2.4% below its February 2020 level.
The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction PMI posted 61.6 in April 2021, down marginally from 61.7 in the previous month. The survey notes the fastest rise in new order since September 2014, though input cost inflation increased to its highest level since April 1997.
In the ONS Business Insights and Impact on the UK Economy survey conducted between 5 April and 18 April 2021, 36.2% of firms in the construction sector reported that their revenue was lower than would normally be expected for the time of the year. Approximately 18.5% of firms surveyed in the sector between 19 April and 2 May 2021 stated that they had either temporarily or permanently ceased trading.
Provisional estimates published by HMRC show that 196,500 construction workers remained on furlough at the end of March 2021. This represents a decline on the number of furloughed workers in February 2021 and is significantly below the peak of 723,600 employments furloughed on 14 April 2020. However, it remains above lows of approximately 130,000 recorded at the end of October 2020.
Construction output is expected to rise by 12.9% in 2021 and 5.2% in 2022, according to the Construction Products Association Spring forecast. Infrastructure activity is expected to record the strongest growth, increasing by 29.3% to reach its highest level on record.

Data from the ONS states that the second-largest contributor to growth in services output in March 2021 was wholesale and retail trade, growing by 2.9%, as sales have picked up. However, a decrease in wholesale and retail trade was one of the main contributors to services output contracting by 2% over the three months to March 2021.
In the ONS Business Insights and Impacts on the UK Economy survey, 32.6% of businesses in the wholesale and retail sector reported a lower turnover than would normally be expected for the time of year between 5 and 18 April 2021. The number of employees on furlough has decreased to 10.8% between 5 and 18 April 2021, from 20.7% in the period 22 March to 4 April 2021. The sector expects the highest percentage of its workforce to return from furlough to the normal workplace between 19 April and 2 May 2021, at 28.9%.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Trades has raised its new car sales forecast for this year to 1.86 million, up from the previous forecast of 1.83 million. However, this would still fall short of the annual average over the past 10 years of 2.33 million new cars.
Following a record decline in the trade of goods between the United Kingdom and European Union in January 2021, including a 42% drop in exports to and a 29.7% drop in imports from the European Union, trade has partially rebounded, according to data from the ONS. Exports and imports rose by 46.6% and 7.3% respectively in February 2021. However, the UK Food and Drink Federation has stated that increased bureaucracy has led to food and drink exports to the European Union being 40% lower in February 2021 compared with the same month in the prior year.
According to The Grocer, some wholesalers have struggled to meet demand from the hospitality sector amid the strong pent-up demand from consumers for al-fresco dining.

The government is under pressure to find a solution for the £3 billion of unpaid retail rent arrears accrued during three lockdowns. Industry association the British Retail Consortium is arguing that unpaid liabilities accrued between the start of the first lockdown in March 2020 and the end of June 2021 should be ringfenced and subject to a further six months’ protection from legal action.
Retailers’ carbon emissions have fallen by a total of 49% (46% reduction for instore and 84% reduction in transport) since 2005, exceeding the target of 25%, according to the British Retail Consortium. These targets form part of the BRC’s Climate Action Roadmap whereby over 70 retailers have pledged to help the UK retail sector and its supply chain reach net zero by 2040.
According to the ONS Retail Sales Index, in March 2021, sale volumes rose 5.4% on the previous month. Clothing was the strongest category, reporting a 17.5% increase as individuals geared up for the reopening of the hospitality sector. Garden centres and flower shops also reported monthly growth of 7.4% as individuals took advantage of warmer weather and catered to their gardens. Petrol station volume sales were also up 11.1% as travel restrictions eased.
With the reopening of non-essential retail stores on 12 April 2020, footfall across all UK shopping destinations was up 87.8%, week-on-week, according to Springboard. Primark was one of the largest winners with foot traffic returning to pre-pandemic levels. As a result of strong trading performance, the discount clothing retailer announced its decision to repay all furlough money.
According to the Centre for Retail Research, almost 190,000 jobs have been lost in the UK retail sector between 23 March 2020 and 31 March 2021. More than 80,000 of job losses in the sector over this period were via administrations, including collapses by department store Debenhams and Arcadia Group.

The ONS Business Insights and Impacts on the UK Economy survey shows that 22.7% of businesses in the information and communication sector reported a decrease in turnover compared with normal levels between 5 and 18 April 2021, the second lowest after the real estate activities sector.
The National Cyber Security Centre saw a 15-fold year-on-year increase in online campaign takedowns in 2020, with a surge in coronavirus-related cyber crime. This increase means that the agency has taken down more scams in 2020 than the previous three years combined.
Ofcom has warned telecommunication companies to improve their customer service by reducing call waiting times and improving handling of complaints. This comes after it revealed that customers had to wait an average of four minutes and nine seconds to speak to an adviser about their broadband and landline in 2020, which is more than double the time in 2019.
Online publishers and broadcasters are benefiting from a surge in demand. Software publishers also benefit as more people work remotely for longer. According to Gartner’s worldwide public cloud user spending forecast, global spending on public cloud services will increase 18.4% in 2021, due to a surge in demand for remote services caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
A survey by IHS Markit for advisory firm KPMG and the Recruitment & Employment Confederation in March 2021 found that the IT sector had one of strongest growths in job vacancies.
As reported by the Financial Times, in a report commissioned by the government, the vendor diversity task force states that smaller equipment manufacturers should provide 25% of the kit used in 5G networks and recommends the government set a target to ensure smaller telecommunication equipment makers become key suppliers of 5G equipment. This follows the ban of Huawei’s 5G equipment in 2020 and the requirement for British mobile phone operators to remove existing Huawei equipment from their networks by 2027.
Virgin Media’s £31 billion merger with O2 has been provisionally cleared by the UK Competition and Markets Authority after it concluded that it was unlikely to lead to reduced competition or higher prices for wholesale mobile services.

Data from HMRC shows property transactions in Q1 2021 were 31% higher than they were a year ago. Meanwhile, house prices are rising at their fastest pace in five years after the Treasury’s extended stamp duty holiday prompted a fresh surge in buying in April 2021, according to Halifax.
According to the Insurance Fraud Bureau, of 2.7 million motor insurance claims made across the UK between October 2019 and the end of 2020, more than 170,000 could be linked to suspected crash-for-cash networks. Key hotspot areas include Birmingham, Braford, Blackburn and Romford.
The Investment Association, which represents the UK asset management industry, has called for the abolishment of taxes on UK investment funds to encourage the development of innovative new funds. The industry body has also expressed the desire to consider innovative new funds that will not suffer any tax disadvantages compared with directly competing European funds. It has also stressed simplifying the UK tax regime could offer a boost to administrative jobs outside of London.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have announced plans to ease special purpose acquisition vehicles (SPAC) as part of the government’s plan to make London a more attractive financial hub. However, the regulator have emphasised it is looking to include a minimum market capitalisation and a redemption option to protect investors in SPACs, before easing regulation.
UK insurers have called for less stringent capital buffer requirements under the Solvency II regime having left the European Union. Lower thresholds will give insurers greater freedom to invest assets and possibly magnify returns. According to the Association of British Insurers, looser capital rules could generate an additional £16.6 billion in real GDP annually by 2051.
In mid-April, the FCA stated that Britain will seize the opportunity to regulate markets flexibly and make the City more attractive to global investors. According to Reuters, the FCA has begun easing curbs inherited from the European Union on anonymous off-exchange trading in blocks of shares.
Think-tank CityUnited Project states that many in the City believe that instead of delaying change in hopes of gaining access to the bloc, the financial sector should instead be made more competitive. It proposes the introduction of a central bank digital currency to set the foundation for a competitive City, as reported by Reuters.

The ONS Business Insights and Impacts on the UK Economy survey shows that real estate activities sector had the lowest percentage of businesses reporting a decrease in turnover compared with normal levels, at 21.2% between 5 and 18 April 2021.
According to Nationwide, annual house price growth was 7.1% year on year in April 2021, from 5.7% in March 2021. Prices were up 2.1% month on month, representing the biggest monthly rise since February 2004. The average house price reached £238,831. Nationwide states that growth was strong due to the extension of the stamp duty holiday in Budget 2021. Housing market activity is likely to remain fairly strong over the next six months as a result of the stamp duty extension and additional support for the labour market included in the Budget, low borrowing costs and a surge in household deposits.
Estate agent Hamptons International reports an increase in ‘off-market’ private property sales, with over 37,000 homes sold in the first quarter of 2021 compared with just under 21,000 in 2019 and the highest since 2007.
On 19 April 2021, the government’s new 95% mortgage scheme launched. It will help first-time buyers or current homeowners secure a mortgage with just a 5% deposit. Data shows that demand for home ownership has boomed during the pandemic, with 76% of private renters and 70% of those living at home starting to save for a deposit.
Bankers and insolvency practitioners warn of widespread business failures in the coming months, when government’s COVID-19 support packages wind down. Once the ban ends, landlords being able to demand repayments of more than a year’s worth of rent from tenants may push some over the edge.
According to Remit Consulting, retailers account for approximately half of the £6 billion of unpaid rent to commercial property landlords due to the pandemic. Additionally, UKHospitality estimates that £2 billion in rent is owed by hospitality businesses, with 40% of premises still negotiating over current unpaid rent. The trade body suggests the government should extend the eviction ban, which is currently set to end on 30 June 2021, until December 2021 to allow businesses to recover following the lockdown easing.
One of the largest commercial landlords, Land Securities, had collected approximately two-thirds of the rent owed by tenants in March 2021, with retail and hospitality businesses in London paying only £2 million of the £7 million they owed for the latest quarter, according to The Financial Times.
The City of London is proposing to convert offices left vacant after the pandemic in the capital’s financial district into homes as part of a recovery strategy.
Developers have reported recovery in interest in London’s office market. Office develop Workspace Group has reported that inquiries, viewings and new lettings have all risen in the first three months of 2021, while Derwent London has agreed £1.3 million worth of new lettings since the start of the year.

Ofqual interim chief announced A-levels and GCSE are not likely to return to their normal form in England in 2022. Much like the 2020 and 2021 cohorts, the 2022 cohort will have also suffered a lot of disruption. The regulator is looking at different options, including the ongoing provision of teacher-based assessments.
The effectiveness and speed of the vaccination roll-out has proven to be a key selling point for international students. According to a survey university ranking provider, QS, 47% of international student respondents stated they would be more likely to choose to study in the UK because of the vaccination roll-out.
According to a poll conducted by the National Education Union, 35% of teachers wish to leave their role within five years, citing increased workloads and diminishing respect for the profession as reasons behind the desire to quit.
On 3 March 2021, the UK government announced the creation of a new graduate route for international students from UK universities to stay in the United Kingdom for an additional two or three years. Applications will open on 1 July 2021 and to qualify, international students must have completed an eligible higher education course in the United Kingdom and have a track record of compliance with government’s immigration requirements.
The government has announced an additional £720 million package to help pupils in England catch-up with lessons due to school closures, bringing the total COVID-19 educational funding to £1.7 million. £200 million has been awarded to secondary schools to fund summer classes for pupils who need it most, especially those children moving up to Year 7 this year. The remainder of the funding is to be split between weekly tutoring sessions, repeating school years, extending school days and increased well-being support.

Following a review by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation which found a possible link between the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and a rare form of blood clot, all those under 40 years of age will be offered an alternative, as long as it does not cause a major delay in the progress of the vaccination. The previous age threshold was 30 years old.
According to the NHS, 35.9 million people, or 68.2% of the UK adult population, have now received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of 12 May. Of those, 18.9 million, or 35.9% of adults, have received the recommended two doses. Meanwhile, 1,770 new COVID-19 cases were recorded on Sunday 9 May 2021, down 4.3% compared with the previous seven days. The vaccination roll-out is expected to gain momentum, despite the decision to stop offering the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to most people under 40 years of age. Approximately 4.2 million jabs are expected to be delivered each week, a rise of approximately 20% on April’s rate. According to the updated schedule, the UK is on track to give a first dose to all adults by the end of June 2021, a month earlier than the official target.
Approximately 4.7 million people are now waiting for routine treatment on the NHS. The government has pledged an extra £63 billion to the NHS this year and £22 billion next year.
In early April 2020, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy pledged an additional £250 million to support pioneering research and development. The money will also fund UK research previously sponsored by Horizon Europe, the world’s largest research programme. The £250 million injection will bring total UK health R&S spending for 2021-22 to £14.9 million, exceeding the goal set in the November 2020 spending review.
The NHS plans to copy the flu prevention programme with a mass campaign of booster jabs against new variants of COVID-19 every autumn. The timing of the extra vaccinations means they could be delivered alongside the annual seasonal flu vaccinations long offered to over-65s, and for which eligibility was last year extended to all over-50s.

On Friday 30 April 2021, more than 10,000 individuals gathered across a music festival, two club nights and a business conference with no masks or social distancing to pilot the return of mass gatherings. Transmission and infection data from the events will be released.
From 17 May 2021, indoor venues such as cinemas, museums, and children’s play areas will be permitted to reopen after months of closure, along with indoor group sports and exercise classes. Meanwhile, up to 30 people are to be allowed to attend weddings, receptions and wakes, as well as funerals. There will likely be social distancing measures in place, including face masks and 1-2 metre rule to limit the spread of the virus.
According to the Association of Independent Festivals, over 25% of festivals with a capacity of 5,000 originally planned for this summer have now been cancelled or postponed, with fears up to 76% of remaining events scheduled for July and August 2021 will follow unless the UK government agrees to offer financial protection against forced cancellations as a result of the pandemic. Major events including Glastonbury already pulled for this year as a result of uncertainty and lack of emergency support. Industry association MusicUK estimated that a £650 million government-backed insurance fund could unlock £2 billion worth of commercial activity that would otherwise not go ahead.
Global subscriber numbers for streaming service Netflix were down over Q1 2021, reporting a growth of four million new subscriptions against 16 million in Q1 2020. Weaker growth can be attributed to a combination of factors including the partial lifting of restrictions across the globe, less new or original content and emergence of rivals such as Disney Plus.

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