According to official data, in the last three months of 2021, the British economy was growing at a faster rate than initially expected, despite the spread of the Omicron variant of the Corona virus. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said economic growth accelerated to 1.3% in the fourth quarter, up from an initial estimate of 1%.
In the third quarter of last year, growth fell 0.9%.
As evidence of the impact of higher prices, household savings fell to their lowest level since the beginning of the pandemic, to 6.8% in the fourth quarter. The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product (GDP) is now 0.1% lower than it was before the pandemic. However, a review of GDP over the past two years means the economy grew by 7.4% in 2021, a record but lower than the initial estimate of 7.5%.
The Office for National Statistics said this comes after reviewing the decline in record gross domestic product to the pandemic’s peak in 2020 at 9.3%, with an initial estimate of 9.4%. “GDP grew a little stronger than we initially thought in the fourth quarter, which means it is now only 0.1% lower than pre-pandemic levels,” said Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the Office for National Statistics.
Savings have been at their lowest since the start of the pandemic, as household spending has increased, mainly due to higher prices.
“The main current account deficit has been halved as UK-based companies receive more revenue from abroad than foreign firms received for the first time in a decade in the UK.
Source: Belfastlive
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