FILE: London, UK - Dec 20, 2022 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Big Ben, UK national flag

FILE: London, UK - February 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Various of Bank of England; pedestrians

FILE: Beijing, China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Various of British pound banknotes going through counting machine

FILE: London, UK - February 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Various of cityscape, traffic, pedestrians

FILE: London, UK - July 4-5, 2024 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Various of cityscape, traffic
6. UK national flag

The United Kingdom's economy contracted in April, with the gross domestic product (GDP) falling 0.1 percent month on month after growing 0.3 percent in March, according to data released Friday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The main driver of the negative growth was cited as a 0.2 percent contraction in services.

According to the ONS, one of the biggest contributors to the decline in services was a 9.1 percent fall in sports, amusement and recreation activities -- the largest negative contribution from a single industry to services output and real GDP growth.

Some of the sector's decline was attributed to the war in the Middle East, as the cancellation of various sporting events in the Middle East affected the output of U.K.-based companies, said the ONS.