The number of people in Britain going to shops and restaurants rose last week while spending on credit and debit cards increased as well, data showed on Thursday (10), adding to signs of a recovery in economic activity after being hit from the Omicron Covid-19 wave.
According to the Office for National Statistics, retail footfall in the week to Feb. 5 rose to 83 percent of its level in the same week of 2019, up 3 percent from the week before and the fourth weekly increase in a row.
Online restaurant bookings via OpenTable in the week to Feb. 7 were 112 percent of their level in the same week of 2020, up 6 percentage points on a week earlier.
Credit and debit card purchases, as measured by the Bank of England’s CHAPS interbank payments system, rose to 96 percent of their level immediately before the pandemic in the week to Feb. 3, up from 90 percent the week before.
Recent ONS data also showed that the UK economy has grown by the fastest rate in 2021 since the second world war in 2021. GDP rose 7.5 percent across last year but contracted by 0.2 percent in December as Omicron dented consumer spending.
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