LONDON, Aug 22 Reuters Britain recorded its biggest fall in output in more than 300 years in 2020 when it faced the brunt of the COVID19 pandemic, as well as a larger decline than any other major economy, updated official figures showed on Monday.

Gross domestic product fell by 11.0 in 2020, the Office for National Statistics said. This was a bigger drop than any of the ONS39;s previous estimates and the largest fall since 1709, according to historical data hosted by the Bank of England.

British statisticians regularly update GDP estimates as more data becomes available.

The ONS39;s initial estimates had already suggested that in 2020 Britain suffered its biggest fall in output since the Great Frost of 1709. But more recently the ONS had revised down the scale of the fall to 9.3, the largest since just after World War One.

Even before the latest revisions Britain39;s economic slump was the largest in the Group of Seven, and the latest downward revision makes it greater than Spain39;s, which recorded a 10.8 fall in output.

However the ONS cautioned against direct comparisons with other countries as most with the exception of the United States had not yet undertaken the same type of indepth revisions as Britain had.

The downward revision in GDP reflected lower contributions from healthcare and retailers than previously thought.

The health service faced higher costs than we initially estimated, meaning its overall contribution to the economy was lower, ONS…