Official data has shown that the economy of United Kingdom has entered recession after reporting two successive quarters of negative economic growth in the second half of 2023.
In a statement, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reduced by 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 after reducing by 0.1 percent in the previous quarter.
Official data showed that Britain entered recession in 2023 on elevated inflation and a cost-of-living crisis, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak before the forth coming general election.
That places UK’s economy in recession, which is defined as two successive quarters of falling GDP.
The ONS stated that all main sectors shrank in the fourth quarter – with manufacturing, construction and wholesale being the biggest clogs on growth – but added that the economy was largely flat overall in 2023.
Sunak, whose Conservatives are trailing Keir Starmer’s main opposition Labour Party ahead of this year’s election, has promised to grow the economy as one of his top five priorities.
Recession news came as voters go to the polls in two by-elections with the Conservatives fearful of not winning one-time strongholds in Wellingborough, central England, and Kingswood in the southwest.
