Britain’s economy expanded by 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2013, and never experienced a double-dip recession as previously thought, official data showed on Thursday.
Gross domestic product (GDP) grew in the January-March period, after falling by 0.3 percent in the final three months of 2012, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, confirming its two previous readings.
“UK gross domestic product (GDP) in volume terms was estimated to have increased by 0.3 percent between the fourth quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013, unrevised from the previous publication,” the ONS said in a statement.
It added that a nine-month contraction at the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012 never actually happened, following revisions to the period’s data.
This meant that Britain did not in fact experience two recessions in quick succession.
But the ONS also revealed that Britain’s recession following the 2008 global financial crisis was far worse than previously thought.
“The good news is that the UK double dip recession of 2011-12 has been wiped from history,” said Howard Archer, chief European economist at the IHS Global Insight research group.
“The bad news is that the 2008-9 recession was deeper than previously reported.”
He added: “There was also mixed news on latest developments in the economy. GDP growth was confirmed at 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter but the year-on-year growth rate was halved to 0.6 percent.”
Britain never in double-dip recession
