Abstract. 2021 was the first year of the UK’s life under the new rules: although the country officially left the European Union on January 31, 2020, the conditions of the transition period were in effect for another 11 months. It was in 2021 that the people of the United Kingdom began to feel more of the economic and social costs of Brexit itself, and not just the associated uncertainty. However, as in the previous year, the consequences of leaving the EU are difficult to separate from the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which, despite a relatively successful vaccination campaign, continued to affect British society.