United Kingdom GDP Growth Rate

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the United Kingdom contracted 0.30 percent in the first quarter of 2012 over the previous quarter. Historically, from 1955 until 2012, the United Kingdom GDP Growth Rate averaged 0.5800 Percent reaching an all time high of 5.3000 Percent in March of 1973 and a record low of -2.5000 Percent in March of 1974. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate provides an aggregated measure of changes in value of the goods and services produced by an economy. The United Kingdom is among the world's most developed economies. Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account by far for the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in importance. Over the past two decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership and contained the growth of social welfare programs. This page includes a chart with historical data for the United Kingdom GDP Growth Rate.

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U.K. Economy Contracts 0.2% in Q1
Published on 5/7/2012 4:50:36 PM | By TradingEconomics.com, UK Office for National Statistics

U.K. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased by 0.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2012, driven by weakness in the construction sector and the production sector.

Output of the production industries decreased by 0.4 per cent in Q1 2012, following a decrease of 1.3 per cent in the previous quarter.

Construction sector output decreased by 3.0 per cent in Q1 2012, following a decrease of 0.2 per cent in the previous quarter.

Output of the service industries increased by 0.1 per cent in Q1 2012, following a decrease of 0.1 per cent in the previous quarter.

GDP in volume terms is flat in Q1 2012, when compared with Q1 2011.

GDP Growth Rate
The Gross Domestic Product growth rate measures the increase in value of the goods and services produced by an economy. Economic growth is usually calculated in real terms or inflation-adjusted terms, in order to net out the effect of changes on the price of the goods and services produced. The Gross Domestic Product can be determined using three different approaches, which should give the same result. These different methods are the product technique, the income technique , and the expenditure technique. In sum, the product technique sums the outputs of every class of enterprise to arrive at the total. The expenditure technique works on the principle that every product must be bought by somebody, therefore the value of the total product must be equal to people's total expenditures in buying products and services. The income technique works on the principle that the incomes of the productive factors must be equal to the value of their product, and determines GDP by finding the sum of all producers' incomes. The real GDP per capita of an economy is often used as an indicator of the average standard of living of individuals in that country, and economic growth is therefore often seen as indicating an increase in the average standard of living. However, there are some problems in using growth in GDP per capita to measure the general well-being of a country´s population. In fact, GDP was first developed by Simon Kuznets for a US Congress report in 1934, who immediately said not to use it as a measure for welfare. First, GDP per capita does not provide much information relevant to the distribution of income in a country. Second, GDP per capita does not take into account negative externalities such as pollution consequent to economic growth. Third, GDP per capita does not take into account positive externalities that may result from services such as education and health. Finally, GDP per capita excludes the value of all the activities that take place outside of the market place such as free leisure activities or less positive activities like organized crime.

UNITED KINGDOM NEWS

UK Inflation Down to 3% in April
Published: 5/22/2012 11:17:34 AM By: TradingEconomics.com, UK Statistics
UK CPI annual inflation stands at 3.0 per cent in April 2012, down from 3.5 per cent in March. The timing of Easter had a significant impact on the April data.

U.K. Unemployment Rate Down to 8.2 in March
Published: 5/16/2012 4:26:31 PM By: TradingEconomics.com, ONS
The unemployment rate was 8.2 per cent of the economically active population for January-March 2012, down 0.2 on the quarter. There were 2.63 million unemployed people, down 45,000 on the quarter.

U.K. Trade Deficit Narrows in March
Published: 5/15/2012 12:47:10 PM By: TradingEconomics.com, ONS
The UK’s deficit in Trade in Goods and Services narrowed to £2.7 billion in March, down £0.2 billion from £2.9 billion in February.

Bank of England Keeps Monetary Policy Unchanged
Published: 5/10/2012 12:10:23 PM By: TradingEconomics.com, Bank of England
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted on May 10th to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. The Committee also voted to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £325 billion.

U.K. Economy Contracts 0.2% in Q1
Published: 5/7/2012 4:50:36 PM By: TradingEconomics.com, UK Office for National Statistics
U.K. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased by 0.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2012, driven by weakness in the construction sector and the production sector.

UK Inflation Up to 3.5% in March
Published: 4/18/2012 11:28:58 AM By: TradingEconomics.com, UK Statistics
UK CPI annual inflation stands at 3.5 per cent in March 2012, up from 3.4 per cent in February. The CPI stands at 122.2 in March 2012 based on 2005 = 100.

UK Trade Deficit Widens in February
Published: 4/12/2012 11:27:42 AM By: TradingEconomics.com, UK Office for National Statistics
The UK’s deficit in Trade in Goods and Services increased to £3.4 billion in February, up £0.9 billion from £2.5 billion in January.

Bank of England Leaves Policy Unchanged
Published: 4/5/2012 12:35:17 PM By: TradingEconomics.com, Bank of England
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted on April 5th, to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. The Committee also voted to continue with its programme of asset purchases totalling £325 billion financed by the issuance of central bank reserves.

UK GDP Contracts 0.3% in Q4
Published: 3/28/2012 2:47:44 PM By: TradingEconomics.com, UK Office for National Statistics
UK gross domestic product (GDP) in volume terms decreased by 0.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011, revised from a decline of 0.2 per cent previously estimated. For the year 2011, GDP in volume terms increased by 0.7 per cent.

UK Annual Inflation Rate Down to 3.4% in February
Published: 3/20/2012 10:41:22 AM By: TradingEconomics.com, UK Office for National Statistics
UK annual inflation stands at 3.4 per cent in February 2012, down from 3.6 per cent in January. The annual rate for February is the lowest since November 2010. The CPI stands at 121.8 in February 2012 based on 2005 = 100

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