How Wonder Woman saved UK economy

HOllyWOOd blockbuster Wonder Woman helped prop up the flagging UK economy.

British families flocked to the cinema to see the Amazonian goddess ( pictured) in action – boosting spending in the second quarter of 2017.

With box office receipts on the rise and film production in the UK booming, the movie industry accounted for around a quarter of total economic growth in Britain between April and June.

Figures from the Office for national Statistics (OnS) showed gross domestic product – total economic output – increased by 0.3pc in the second quarter of the year.

That was only slightly faster than the 0.2pc growth seen in the first three months of 2017 and rounded off the worst half-year since 2012.

darren Morgan, head of GdP at the OnS, said: ‘The economy has experienced a notable slowdown in the first half of this year.’

Although activity has been subdued so far this year, the UK has continued to grow since the EU referendum, making a mockery of claims that the Brexit vote would trigger an instant recession. The film industry grew by 8.2pc in the second quarter, adding 0.07 percentage points to the overall growth rate.

The UK film industry has grown by 72.4pc since early 2014 when former chancellor George Osborne introduced tax breaks for production in the UK.

By contrast, the EU film industry has grown by just 8.5pc in that time.

The OnS report showed output in the services sector was up 0.5pc in the second quarter but manufacturing was down 0.5pc and construction fell 0.9pc.