Britain is the only major economy on earth where growth is slowing

pulse

March 29, 2018 1:56 PM

The ONS released the third estimate of GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2017 on Thursday.

Britain's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 0.4% in the final quarter of 2017, unchanged from the previous reading.
GDP grew by 1.4% on a year-to-year basis in the quarter, once again unchanged from February's reading.
Annual growth was revised marginally higher to 1.8%, but the UK is the only major economy which saw its economy slow down last year.

LONDON — The UK's was the only major economy on the planet to slow down last year, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released on Thursday shows.

Britain's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 0.4% in the quarter, according to the ONS's third estimate of growth. That was unchanged from the statistical agency's second reading in February.

GDP grew by 1.4% on a year-to-year basis in the quarter, once again unchanged from February.

Here's the chart:

Services, the dominant sector of the UK economy, accounted for the majority of growth over the data period. Services account for roughly 80% of UK output.

The data means that the UK remains close to the bottom of the G7 growth tables, and the only economy in the group to have slowed down in 2017.

GDP for the final quarter of 2017 initially came in at 0.5%, but was revised down in February after more complete data for the end of 2017 became available.

UK GDP has now grown in 20 consecutive quarters. The last time UK GDP shrunk over a quarter was in Q4 of 2012 when the economy readjusted following a huge boost from the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

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