Coronavirus has triggered a public health crisis. But the effect on the economy is critically important, too.

Tortoise are tracking the economic shock that the pandemic is having in real time using a sample of current consumer spending data from bank account holders across England and Wales. This sample data would, in a normal year, cover a flow of spending of about £50bn – about 4 per cent of all UK household spending. By watching these flows, we can see not just the broad scale of the corona shock, but its geographic unevenness.

The uneven spread

The full data

Towns in England and Wales ranked by the percentage change in all sales compared to the same week last year. Use the drop-downs to compare previous weeks.

Plus: Scottish data

Towns in Scotland ranked by the percentage change in all sales compared to the same week last year. Use the drop-downs to compare previous weeks.