Sharjah24 – AFP: Britain's economy contracted by 1.5 percent in the first quarter as the country suffered a fresh coronavirus lockdown, official data showed on Wednesday.

The UK however is currently exiting lockdown at a gradual pace, allowing the economy to recover from pandemic fallout.

"As we cautiously reopen the economy, I will continue to take all the steps necessary to support our recovery," finance minister Rishi Sunak said in reaction to the data.

Despite first-quarter restrictions, the UK enjoyed a growth bounce of 2.1 percent in March, the Office for National Statistics revealed.

"The strong recovery seen in March, led by retail and the return of schools, was not enough to prevent the UK economy contracting over the first quarter as a whole, with the lockdown affecting much of the services sector," noted Darren Morgan, ONS director of economic statistics. 

"However, construction grew strongly over the quarter and, in March, was above its pre-pandemic level."

Morgan added that manufacturing recovered strongly in February and March.

And following Brexit, "exports of goods to the EU continued to increase in March and are now almost back to their December level", he said.

"However, imports from Europe remain sluggish in the first three months of the year, being outstripped by non-EU imports for the first time on record."

Britain formally exited the European Union at the start of the year.