Hospitality turnover recovered from the £1.2 billion level seen in May 2020 to £6.9bn in May 2021, showing signs of recovery for the sector that is made up of businesses hardest hit by pandemic restrictions.
The data published by the Office for National Statistics comes after GDP grew by 0.8% in May 2021, the fourth month of consecutive growth.
The hospitality sector's turnover for May 2021 remains behind the value of May 2019, which was £9.2bn.
The total value of payment from food and drink businesses to their suppliers and contractors in May 2021 was also only 51% of the values in February 2020.
There are signs of low business confidence despite the tentative recovery, with all hospitality sub-sectors reporting lower levels of confidence their business will survive the next few months, compared with the all-industry average.
For instance, 46% of businesses said they were confident in their survival for the next three months in early May, compared to just 21% of pubs and bars and 20% of licensed restaurants.
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