25th October, 2013
Britain’s economy grew at the fastest rate for more than three years during the third quarter, official data showed on Friday, as the country’s recovery gathers speed.
Gross domestic product — the total value of goods and services produced in the economy — rose by 0.8 percent in the July-September period.
That compared with GDP growth of 0.7 percent in the second quarter, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.
This was the strongest growth since the second quarter of 2010 when the economy grew by 1.0 percent, before contracting.
The recovery to Britain’s economy is broad-based, the ONS said on Friday, adding that GDP expanded by 1.5 percent in the third quarter (Q3) compared with output in the equivalent period in 2012.
“Output increased in all four main industrial groupings within the economy in Q3 2013 compared with Q2 2013,” the ONS said as it gave its initial estimates for the third quarter.
“Output increased by 1.4 percent in agriculture, 0.5 percent in production, 2.5 percent in construction, and 0.7 percent in services. Output from services is now slightly above its previous peak in Q1 2008, prior to the economic downturn,” the ONS added.