UK economy shows 0.1% growth in first quarter of 2023: ONS

The ONS said Britain's economy remained 0.5% smaller than its size in the fourth quarter of 2019, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic. The Bank of England forecast on Thursday that Britain would grow by 0.25% in 2023 - a weak expansion but one which avoids a recession - having previously predicted a contraction of 0.5%.

British gross domestic product grew by 0.1% in the first three months of 2023, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday.

Economists polled by Reuters had mostly forecast 0.1% quarter-on-quarter growth in the first three months of this year. In March, British GDP shrank by 0.3% from February.

The Reuters poll of economists had pointed to no change in GDP in March. The ONS said Britain's economy remained 0.5% smaller than its size in the fourth quarter of 2019, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bank of England forecast on Thursday that Britain would grow by 0.25% in 2023 - a weak expansion but one which avoids a recession - having previously predicted a contraction of 0.5%. Britain is struggling with an inflation rate which topped 10% in March - double the level in the United States and higher than the euro zone's too - as well as a very tight labour market, a string of interest rate hikes and after-effects of Brexit.