- Chancellor George Osborne
The UK economy ended 2015 on a firmer footing than previously thought, but the current account deficit widened to a record high level in the final quarter of the year. Britain's gross domestic product increased 0.6% in the three months through December, compared with the 0.5% gain reported last month, according to the Office for National Statistics. The revision came due to better performance of the services sector, which rose at a faster pace of 0.8%, industrial output and construction. On the expenditure side, the strongest upward driver again came from consumers, with household expenditure increasing 0.6% to 267.4 billion pounds during the reported period, helping to offset a 2% decline in business investment and weak exports. The UK economy grew 0.4% in the third quarter. The annual growth in the fourth quarter was also revised, by two percentage points up to 2.1%.
While the British economy grew stronger at the end of last year, the current account deficit widened to 32.7 billion pounds during the fourth quarter, the largest ever deficit recorded by the ONS, and compared with a revised deficit of 20.1 billion pounds recorded in the previous quarter. The deficit accounts for 7% of total GDP, which the ONS said was also the largest proportion since records began in 1955.
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