UK exits recession with fastest growth in three years

LONDON: Britain’s economy grew by the most in nearly in three years in the first quarter of 2024, ending the shallow recession it entered in the second half of last year and delivering a boost to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of an election.

The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product expanded by 0.6 per cent in the three months to March, the strongest growth since the fourth quarter of 2021 when it rose by 1.5 per cent.

The first-quarter growth exceeded all forecasts in a Reuters poll of 39 economists which had pointed to a 0.4 per cent expansion of gross domestic product in the January-to-march period, after GDP shrank by 0.3 per cent in the final quarter of 2023.

Friday’s data was welcomed by Sunak who said the economy had “turned a corner”, although the opposition Labour Party, which has a large lead in opinion polls, accused Sunak and finance minister Jeremy Hunt of being out of touch.

“There is no doubt it has been a difficult few years, but today’s growth figures are proof that the economy is returning to full health for the first time since the pandemic,” Hunt said.

But the opposition Labour Party rejected those claims.

“This is no time for Conservative ministers to be doing a victory lap and telling the British people that they have never had it so good,” said Labour’s Rachel Reeves, who hopes to succeed Hunt as finance minister.