CNN recently mentioned that:
the UK economy suffered a bigger contraction than any other G7 country last year at 9.8%
Wondering how the rest of G7 fared in more concrete terms, I found an older article with slightly more extensive data:
The UK's 9.9% contraction in 2020 compares unfavorably with the rest of the G7. The US economy shrank 3.5%, while Canada's economy is expected to have shrunk around 5%.
Germany shrank 5%, France contracted 8.3% and Italy's economy finished the year 8.8% smaller. Japan's GDP is expected to have contracted around 5.5%.
Typically Italy and France are painted in the Anglophone press as having huge, long-term systemic inefficiency problems, like an insufficiently flexible labor market, i.e. too hard to fire people over there, and they're working too few hours, etc.
So, how do UK leaders explain their country's performance last year was slightly below that of France and Italy? And pretty far from that of US, Canada or Germany. (I'm aware Covid-19 was around, but that can't by itself explain the difference, as it was everywhere in the G7 to some extent.)