Fact Service (June 2016)

Issue 22

Economic growth for start of year confirmed


The Office for National Statistics has confirmed that economic growth in the first quarter of the year was 0.4%.


The quarter-on-quarter growth in gross domestic product (GDP) was the 13th consecutive quarter of positive growth since the first quarter of 2013.


GDP was 2.0% higher than the same period a year ago — a revision downwards of 0.1%.


Production output decreased by 0.4% in first quarter of 2016 compared with final quarter of 2015, unrevised from the previously published estimate. 


Within the production sub-industries, output from mining and quarrying, including oil and gas extraction, decreased by 2.3%; manufacturing (the largest component of production) decreased by 0.4%, while the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply industries increased by 0.4%. Water supply and sewerage increased by 2.3%


Production output increased by 0.1% on the same quarter 2015, but manufacturing fell by 1.3%.


Services, which now accounts for almost 80% of the economy, grew by 0.6% in the first quarter on the previous quarter and by 2.7% on a year ago.


www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/bulletins/secondestimateofgdp/quarter1jantomar2016


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