UK GDP Expands Unexpectedly In Q4

(RTTNews) - The UK economy expanded unexpectedly in the fourth quarter, underpinned by services and construction output, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday.

Gross domestic product grew 0.1 percent from the third quarter, confounding expectations for a contraction of 0.1 percent. This follows a nil growth in the third quarter.

The services sector expanded 0.2 percent and construction output grew 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter. Partially offsetting these gains, industrial production declined 0.8 percent.

On a yearly basis, the fourth quarter growth in GDP came in at 1.4 percent compared to 1.0 percent in the third quarter.

Real annual GDP in 2024 was estimated to have increased 0.9 percent, following growth of 0.4 percent in 2023.

Further, data showed that the economy registered a monthly growth of 0.4 percent in December after rising 0.1 percent in November.

Another data from the ONS showed that the visible trade gap narrowed to GBP 17.4 billion in December from GBP 18.9 billion in the previous month.

The total trade deficit that combines trade in goods and services declined sharply to GBP 2.8 billion from GBP 4.4 billion in November.