UK finally exits recession with 0.1% Q4 growth

26 January 2010 10:32  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--The UK has emerged from its longest recession on record, with GDP forecast to have grown 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared with the previous quarter, after six consecutive quarters of contraction, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday.

The increase seen in the three months to December was mainly due to improved output from the hotel and restaurant sectors as well as the distribution industry, the statistics office said.

Additionally, a 0.2% increase in output from the government and other services, compared with the same sector's decrease of 0.2% in the previous quarter, significantly contributed to fourth-quarter growth, it said.

However, this was partially offset by a small decrease in output from business services and finance, while construction and transport, storage and communication were flat over the quarter, the statistics office said.

GDP in the fourth quarter of 2009 decreased 3.2% year on year, it said.

The UK's economic recovery has lagged for months behind those in the US, Japan, France and Germany, which exited their recessions in the middle of last year with positive second-quarter GDP growth, according to official EU figures released in August.

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