An employee at Abraham Moon and Sons woollen mill operates a weaving machine in Guiseley, northern England | Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images Brexit hits real British economy Leading manufacturing index hits seven-year low.

Britain’s vote to leave the European Union sent markets and the pound reeling. Now comes an early bill from the real economy, and it’s steeper than expected.

The U.K.’s business activity dropped to levels not seen since the peak of the financial crisis following the June 23 Brexit referendum, according to the Markit monthly purchasing managers’ index.

The Markit’s composite PMI, which measures manufacturing and services activity, came in at 47.7, the lowest level it has been in seven years, down from 52.4 in June.

The results were worse than analysts anticipated. Bloomberg's survey of City economists predicted a composite PMI of 49. Goldman Sachs’ Huw Pill guessed 50.5, saying that the U.K. economic slowdown would start to bite in the future but not now.

Britain’s services activity plummeted to 47.4 for July, compared to 52.3 in June — another seven-year low. The U.K. manufacturing PMI dropped to 49.1 in July, from 52.1 in June, which was the worst reading in 41 months. Output and new orders both fell for the first time since the end of 2012, Markit said. A weaker sterling led to a steep rise in manufacturer’s input prices, mainly due to higher import costs.

Blame all of this on the Brexit vote, said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit. “July saw a dramatic deterioration in the economy, with business activity slumping at the fastest rate since the height of the global financial crisis in early-2009,” he said.

The one bright spot: Manufacturing exports benefited from the weak pound.

Markit’s PMI data is based on responses from over 650 companies.