| Date of event | Event | Special Event status | Clarification of event and affected outputs |
| 2014 | |||
| 23 July to 3 August | Commonwealth Games – Edinburgh to host | ||
| 2013 | |||
| 1 July | Croatia accession to the European Union | No | |
| End March | Snowfall in the north and cold temperatures | No. Although there was disruption in some areas it did not have an extended effect over many outputs. | |
| 20 March | PCS Strike | No. The effect of the strike was not distinguishable from the normal variation in the series. | |
| 2012 | |||
| November | Flooding after heavy rain in many areas | No | |
| 27 July to 12 August and 29 August to 9 September | London Olympics and Paralympics | Yes |
Some elements of Olympic expenditure (particularly ticket sales) were included in series at the time of the Olympics, and normal patterns of tourism and travel were disrupted. For more detail of how series were affected see this article (229 Kb Pdf) , and for more information on which aspects were expected to be affected see the Olympics information note. Quarterly National Accounts – Q3 2012 Second Estimate of GDP – Q3 2012 Gross Domestic Product Preliminary Estimate – Q3 2012 Index of Production – September 2012 Index of Production – August 2012 Index of Production – July 2012 Index of Services – September 2012 Index of Services – August 2012 Labour Market Statistics – October 2012 Labour Market Statistics - September 2012 Overseas travel and tourism – September 2012 Overseas travel and tourism – August 2012 Overseas travel and tourism - July 2012 |
| April - June | Wettest April to June since records began | No. This is part of the normal weather-based variation in the statistics | |
| 5 June (but also affected 28 May and 4 June) | The Queen's Diamond Jubilee | Yes |
Affected both May and June figures across many economic outputs and made interpretation of changes when including those months less certain. There was coordination of commentary across outputs, and the way that this event was factored in to nowcasts of GDP components was explained in an article released alongside the preliminary estimate of GDP. Index of Production - June 2012 GDP Preliminary Release - Q2 2012 Construction - June and Q2 2012 |
| 10 May | Public sector strike | No. The effect of the strike was not distinguishable from the normal variation in the series | |
| 2011 | |||
| 30 November | Public sector strike | No. The effect of the strike was not distinguishable from the normal variation in the series | There was coordination across affected output. |
| 6 August to 10 August | UK Riots | No. The effect of the riots were not distinguishable from the normal variation in the series | |
| 30 June | PCS strike | No. The effect of the strike was not distinguishable from the normal variation in the series | |
| April | Warmest April since records began | No*. This is part of the normal weather-based variation in the statistics |
Retail Sales Index - April 2011 |
| 29 April | Royal Wedding | Yes* | |
| March | Earthquake in Japan | No* | |
| 4 January | VAT increase to 20% | No. The only series where the effect of VAT is not already accounted for is CPI/RPI |
Winter weather and VAT changes effect Retail Sales - February 2011 |
| 2010 | |||
| December | Bad weather | Yes. Although this is part of the normal weather-based variation in the series, it disrupted transport and outside work for an extended period |
Index of Production - December 2010 Retail Sales Index - December 2010 Winter weather and VAT changes effect Retail Sales - February 2011 |
| April/May | Ash cloud |
Yes. The principle effect was in the International Passenger Survey, but there were impacts in other series too. |
|
| 1 January | VAT increase to 17.5% | No. The only series where the effect of VAT is not already accounted for is CPI/RPI | |
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2008 |
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| 1 December | VAT decrease to 15% | No. The only series where the effect of VAT is not already accounted for is CPI/RPI | |
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2002 |
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| June | The Queen's Golden Jubilee | Yes | Jubilee Effect Distorts Data - December 2002 |
* These events were treated as a group of events all affecting outputs in April 2011, when the group was regarded as Special.
