However, it shows zero growth over the past year
The UK’s monthly gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have grown by 0.3% in January 2023, after falling by 0.5% in December 2022, government data released on Friday showed.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS), however, noted that, looking at the broader picture, GDP was flat in the three months to January and over the past 12 months.
A major contributor to the growth in monthly GDP was the services sector, which grew by 0.5% in January after falling by 0.8% in the previous month. The largest contributions to the growth in this sector came from education, transport and storage, human health activities, and arts, entertainment and recreation activities, all of which have rebounded after falls in December 2022. Output in consumer-facing services also grew by 0.3% in January, following a fall of 1.2%.
GDP grew 0.3% in January:
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) March 10, 2023
▪️ services grew 0.5%
▪️ manufacturing fell 0.4%
▪️ construction fell 1.7%
➡️ https://t.co/KNpWVorlK1 pic.twitter.com/yy4UQVhe8a
The GDP monthly statistics also showed that production output fell by 0.3% in January, following growth of 0.3% the previous month, while the construction sector fell by 1.7% in the first month of the year after being flat in December 2022.
“The economy partially bounced back from the large fall seen in December,” Darren Morgan, ONS director of economic statistics, commented. “Across the last three months as a whole and, indeed over the last 12 months, the economy has, though, showed zero growth.
“The main drivers of January’s growth were the return of children to classrooms, following unusually high absences in the run-up to Christmas. The Premier League clubs returned to a full schedule after the end of the World Cup, and private health providers also had a strong month. Postal services also partially recovered from the effects of December’s strikes.
“These were somewhat offset by a notable drop in construction with a slowdown in infrastructure projects, and housebuilding having another poor month, partly due to heavy rainfall.”
The ONS reported last month that the UK barely avoided a recession as GDP flatlined in the three months to December 2022.
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