UK slips into recession

The economy has now registered two consecutive quarters of contraction

The British economy fell into recession in the final quarter of 2023, according to official figures released on Thursday.

GDP dropped by 0.3% in the fourth quarter following a 0.1% decline in the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. A technical recession is typically defined as two successive quarters of contracting output.

All three main sectors of the economy – services, production, and construction – posted declines in the fourth quarter, according to the ONS.

For the whole of 2023, the economy is estimated to have increased by 0.1%, which the ONS described as “the weakest annual change in real GDP since the financial crisis in 2009,” excluding the pandemic year of 2020. In 2022, growth stood at 4.3%.

According to the government, high inflation has been the single biggest barrier to growth. Although price growth in the country has come down from the 11% peak recorded in 2022 and stood at 4% as of January, it’s still double the Bank of England’s 2% target.

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Some economists also partially attribute the weak economic performance to the effects of Brexit.

The data released on Thursday represents a preliminary estimate and is subject to revision, the ONS noted.

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