UK economy grew by 0.2% in first quarter of 2018

The UK economy grew by 0.2% in the first-quarter of the year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The services industries made the largest contribution to GDP growth, followed by production.

The revised data comes after the ONS previously said that GDP grew just 0.1%.

The final reading reflects improvements made to the measurement of construction output.

While growth in the first quarter of 2018 halved compared to the final quarter of 2017 the final reading does increase the likelihood of the Bank of England hiking rates.

ONS head of GDP Rob Kent-Smith said: “GDP growth was revised up slightly in the first three months of 2018, with later construction data, and significantly improved methods for measuring the sector, nudging up growth.

“These improved methods, introduced as part of ONS’s annual update to its figures, will lead to better early estimates of the construction sector with smaller revisions in the future.

“Overall, households were borrowers at the beginning of 2018 and for the sixth consecutive quarter, as households continued to face increasing prices, squeezing their budgets.

“Investment by both local and central government and the private sector fell, with spending on buildings, machinery and software all seeing notable falls.”

The ONS estimated GDP growth of 1.7% between 2016 and 2017, a downward revision of 0.1 percentage points from the second estimate and slightly lower than the 1.8% growth seen between 2015 and 2016.