The UK's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.1% in February, the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced on Friday, raising hopes that the country will emerge from recession.
The UK slid into recession in the second half of last year and its economy regained momentum in January with growth of 0.3% compared to the previous month, a figure that remained slightly higher in February.
Analysts consider two consecutive quarters of economic contraction a “technical” recession.
The March quarterly figures will confirm whether the UK will emerge from recession at the start of the year.
British GDP contracted by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2023, after falling by 0.1% in the third quarter.
Advertisement – Scroll to continue
Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the Office for National Statistics, explained on X (formerly Twitter) that “the economy rose slightly in February with broad-based growth in the manufacturing sector, especially the automotive sector.”
Services, public transport and communications also led growth, but the construction sector was hit by the rain, the Office for National Statistics said.
“The current recovery in the economy is evidence that a moderate technical recession is now behind us,” said Yael Selvin, an economist at KPMG in the UK.
Advertisement – Scroll to continue
Inflation in Britain, which reached 3.4% on an annual basis in February, has declined significantly after reaching a maximum of 11% at the end of 2022, but it remains the highest among the G7, the group of seven major Western powers. .
poem/dlm/psr/jvb
:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/grupoclarin/6QRRE7GX2VCB7KVYFDNZHOCKJQ.jpg)