Photo: People on various modes of transport including bicycles and a scooter pass through Parliament Square in central London on May 12, 2020, during the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. /AFP

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) of the UK released new data on Wednesday, suggesting the UK economy shrank by 2% in the first quarter of 2020, following zero growth last quarter. This is the largest quarterly contraction since the global financial crisis of 2008.

According to ONS, the decline was driven by a record fall in March, and an even bigger decline is expected in the second quarter.

This is the first official growth estimate since the lockdown began in March.