Britain officially out of recession
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Britain is officially no longer in a recession, figures from the Office of National Statistics reveal today.
Gross domestic product grew by 0.1% between October and December, compared with a decrease of 0.2% in Q3 2009.
Overall, the economy fell by 4.8% last year - the biggest annual contraction since records began in 1949 - and it has lost 6% since the recession began in 2008.
The 0.1% growth is lower than the anticipated 0.4% growth in Q4 2009.
David Newnes, managing director of Your Move, says: “I expect there will be a lot of red-faced economists out there today because these stats come in below the forecasts. But people shouldn’t be downbeat.
“This was a positive number. We didn’t get a seventh successive decline in the size of the UK’s economy. We finally emerged from the deepest recession in a generation. Furthermore, the figures show retail had a strong quarter. The great British shopper has been heading out to grab sales bargains.
“And although at 0.1% growth is not huge, the typical revision is 0.1 to 0.2% so this modest rebound could be tripled when the tweaks are announced in March.”
David Whittaker, managing director of Mortgages For Business, says people should not crack open the champagne just yet.
He says: “Exiting the recession is great news but this is the end of the beginning - not the beginning of the end. Don’t expect growth to suddenly shoot up. 2010 will be characterised by cautious progression. Rates will to go up this year and cuts have to be made to public spending. These will both provide hurdles for the economy to negotiate over the next 12 months. Life must go on though and professional property investors with large cash deposits will see this year as a great opportunity to bolster their portfolios.”
