According to data released on Thursday by official sources, the British economy entered a recession in the latter quarter of 2023.
The data, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showed that the GDP shrank by 0.3% in the fourth quarter after falling by 0.1% in the month prior. Two quarters of decreasing output in a row is the standard definition of a technical recession.
The ONS reports that in the fourth quarter, all three of the major economic sectors, production, services, and construction, fell.
After accounting for the pandemic year of 2020, the ONS characterized the predicted 0.1% annual growth in real GDP for the entire year 2023 as “the weakest annual change in real GDP since the financial crisis in 2009.” The growth rate in 2022 stood at 4.3%.
The administration claims that the largest impediment to growth has been the nation’s sizable rate of inflation. While price rise in the nation has decreased from the 11% peak observed in 2022 to 4% as of January, it is still twice the Bank of England’s aim of 2%.
