Remember the myth our economy grew faster after we joined the EU? Thanks to Sir Keir it’s back again

Sir Keir is giving Rejoiners hope, so here’s the proof the EU slowed the UK’s growth dramatically

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2025

Brexit Facts4EU has to destroy the new Extremist Rejoiners’ fantasies all over again

Since the new government of Sir Keir Starmer came to power, we have observed a renewed sense of optimism and confidence amongst the hard-core, Extremist Rejoiners who are still being very well-funded by the Open Society foundations of a foreign billionaire.

With no funding coming to hard-working organisations like ours, these Extremist Rejoiners presumably hope that there will soon be no-one to counter the myths they are now propagating with such force. Well, while we are still here – just – we will once again debunk one of their worst efforts.

We published one simple fact, and it set them off

It seems Rejoiners took a dislike to a report we published about the poor performance of the EU’s No.1 economy, Germany, which languishes below its pre-Covid level. The accusation is that the UK’s economy grew faster once we were a member of the EU than before we joined.

A variety of charts were produced, with sources starting with ‘economicshelp’. This sounded about right for the information we and the public were then presented with. In response to a polite suggestion from us that the information was incorrect, we then had a chart with multiple parentage, including data from ‘IMF forecasts from 2021’, data from the ONS of unspecified vintage, and data from the IMF’s ‘World Economic Outlook Database’ from October 2021. All were credited on the same chart.

This exchange happened on X.com but we can’t re-publish the tweets because the language contained profanities, which is normal for Extremist Rejoiners.

Sorry, Rejoiners, the UK economy grew faster before we joined the EU and even faster after we left

It’s time to lay out the facts. The data comes from the Office for National Statistics. We accessed it at 2am this morning, so it’s up-to-date. More so than IMF forecasts from 2021, it might be said.

Data doesn’t get more ‘official’ than when it is sourced directly from the Office for National Statistics. We don’t use 'aggregator sites' that collate information, we go direct to the principal source, locate the correct information, and do the analysis and charts ourselves.

Below we show a very simple comparison of the average growth rate in real GDP (after excluding inflation). To present a fair comparison we took a long period – the longest we could. The ONS data goes back to 1949 – 24 years before we joined the EC as it then was. It was therefore logical to look at 24 years before and 24 years after.

What’s that? Extremist Rejoiners think we must have manipulated the dates?

Yes, Extremist Rejoiners will clutch at straws. Readers may think this doesn’t matter, but sadly these people are far more active online than the majority of the British people. They will seek a way to discredit perfectly good information, such as that above. Being more active means their disinformation creeps into the public consciousness much more deeply.

To reiterate, we went back as far as the data allowed, which was 24 years before we joined the ‘European Community’ or ‘EEC’. We then went forward 24 years. That chart above shows the average annual GBP growth rates for both periods and it’s clear the UK economy grew faster before we joined the EEC, in real terms.

But okay, let’s humour them. Let’s look at the average annual GBP growth rates for the 24 years before (all the years we have) and compare the average with all the years we were a member of the EU, up to the end of 2020 when the Transition Period ended.

We warn Rejoiners to look away now

Overall summary

In short, whichever period you compare with, the UK’s average annual growth rate in real GDP was far higher before we joined the EC/EU.

• Comparing to the 24 years after : 53% higher average annual growth before joining
• Comparing to all the years of membership : 77% higher average annual growth before joining

There is one more point to make about the economy before our 'Observations'

The Brexit Facts4EU team and a great many of the British people did not make their decision to vote to leave the EU on economic grounds.

We voted to leave because we wanted to be a free, independent country once again. Even if the figures above were reversed, we would still be independent, albeit that we still have battles to fight to restore Northern Ireland to its rightful place in the Union and other battles to prevent Sir Keir Starmer’s clear plan to lead us back in by stealth.

The Facts4EU team has been working seven days a week for over 10 years now, presenting original research from the official sources to give the British people the facts about our membership of the European Union and the opportunities ahead of us. This work was vital in the run-up to the EU Referendum and we’re proud that our charts and leaflets were used all around the country during the Referendum campaign.

[ Sources: Office for National Statistics ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Remembrance Day, Tues 11 Nov 2025

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