According to the British Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, the previous forecast that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would remain flat in the third quarter of the year was revised downwards. The British economy contracted by 0.1 percent in this period.
The previous estimate that the economy grew by 0.2 percent in the second quarter of the year was also revised downwards and it was recorded that there was no growth in this period.
In the third quarter of this year, the service sector shrank by 0.2 percent, offsetting the 0.4 percent growth in the construction sector and the 0.1 percent growth in industrial production.
ONS Economic Statistics Director Darren Morgan, in his assessment of the data, stated that the economy performed slightly weaker than his estimates in the last two quarters, “When we look at the broad picture, we see that economic performance has not changed much compared to last year.”
Darren noted that weaker performance of small businesses in the second quarter and slower-than-expected activity in sectors such as film production, engineering and design, and telecommunications in the third quarter contributed to economic growth.
