The UK is likely to be the hardest hit by Covid-19 among major economies, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has warned.

Britain’s economy is likely to slump by 11.5% in 2020, slightly outstripping falls in countries such as Germany, France, Spain and Italy, it said.

If there were a second peak in the pandemic, the UK economy could contract by as much as 14%.

“The crisis will cast a long shadow over the world,” the OECD added.

It said that in what it called a “single-hit scenario”, with no second peak, there could be contractions of 11.4% in France, 11.1% in Spain, 11.3% in Italy and 6.6% in Germany.

In its latest assessment, the OECD found that the UK’s largely service-based economy meant that it had been particularly badly hit by the government’s lockdown restrictions.

The services sector, including financial services, hospitality and tourism, makes up about three-quarters of the UK’s GDP.