In signs that the economic recovery is taking place at a slow pace, the British economy grew a meager 0.3 per cent in the first three months of 2010.
One of the worst hit by the global financial crisis, the British economy is on the revival path and the latest figures just managed to touch the preliminary official estimate which had pegged first quarter expansion at 0.3 per cent.
"GDP increased by 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2010, unrevised from the previous estimate. GDP in the first quarter of 2010 is now 0.2 per cent lower than the first quarter of 2009," the office for national statistics said in a statement here today.
For the full year 2009, the economy shrank 4.9 per cent. In 2008, the GDP had contracted 0.1 per cent. In the first quarter of this year, output of production industries climbed 1 per cent whereas construction growth dropped 1.6 per cent, official figures showed.
"Output in the services industries was revised up to 0.3 per cent in the latest quarter, down from growth of 0.7 per cent in the previous quarter. Household expenditure fell 0.1 per cent compared with a growth of 0.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009," the statement noted.
The International Monetary Fund has projected the British economy to expand 1.2 per cent this year and at a rate of 2.1 per cent in 2011.
