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 flo w 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. This map and graphic shows the total cumulative size of the impact on spending across all 49 weeks of the Coronashock tracker, compared to the same period in 2019-20.
The uneven spread
The full data – towns
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 and toggle the switch to look at the cumulative losses.
The full data – parliamentary seats
Parliamentary constituencies 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 and toggle the switch to look at the cumulative losses.
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.