Britain’s economy is around 1.3% larger than previously thought

Britain’s economy is around 1.3% larger than previously thought – an increase of £26 billion.

Statisticians announced this after a major revision of growth data from the past 20 years.

New analysis by Britain’s Office for National Statistics shows that average annual gross domestic product growth between 1997 and 2016 was about 0.1 percentage points higher than previously estimated at 2.1%.

However, the figures do not change the broader picture of a marked slowdown in growth since the 2008 global financial crisis and they capture only a few months of the period after the Brexit referendum in June 2016 which has weighed on the economy.

Moreover, growth since 2008 appears to have been even more reliant on domestic consumption rather than investment – something which was already a concern for British policymakers.

Via Reuters