Flights to and from UK airports increased and credit card purchases edged higher in the first week of July, according to official estimates, as the government’s easing of Covid-19 restrictions allowed parts of the economy to reopen.
Airports recorded an 8% increase in flights in the week to 5 July to and from foreign and domestic destinations. Over the same week, credit and debit card purchases rose 3 percentage points, including payments made in shops and online.
However, flight numbers remained down by a third on the same week in 2019 and debit and credit card transactions were 96% of the level seen before the pandemic, the Office for National Statistics said.
The data comes ahead of figures out on Friday for the UK’s GDP which are expected to show a fourth consecutive month of expansion across all major sectors of the economy.
Figures for April showed the economy grew 2.3% on the previous month, but was still 4% below its previous peak. City economists expect the rate of growth to slow to 1.5% in May.
A slowdown in the recovery will fuel concerns that the outlook for businesses is proving to be bumpy. While economic growth is continuing to expand, the likelihood is that shortages of raw materials and skilled labour, coupled with the spread of the Delta variant, which will keep people at home self-isolating, is going to hold back many businesses from reopening fully.
The ONS said a review of HMRC VAT data showed an equal number of firms reported increasing turnover as those reporting a decrease in May.
It said there were “marginal increases in turnover in services, production and agriculture” and a downturn in turnover in previously booming construction industry.
There was also a fall in the number of restaurant diners by 5 percentage points, possibly as a result of poor weather conditions discouraging outdoor dining, though the number of bookings stayed well above pre-pandemic level, recording a 119% increase on the same week in 2019.