This is according to the UK’s Office for National Statistics on Thursday, February 15, 2024.
It said the gross domestic product (GDP) fell by a larger-than-expected 0.3% in the three months to December after a decline in all main sectors of the economy and a collapse in retail sales in the run-up to Christmas.
According to BBC, the UK is considered in recession if GDP falls for two successive three-month periods – or quarters.
The figures will be a blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Growing the economy was one of five pledges he made in January 2023.
In 2020, the UK economy entered recession and contracted by a record 20.4 percent in the second quarter with the country in lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic, official data had shown.
“It is clear that the UK is in the largest recession on record,” the Office for National Statistics said then.
Meanwhile, in December 2023, Britain’s economy unexpectedly shrank in the third quarter, official data showed, raising fears of a potential recession before an election due next year (2024).
Gross domestic product contracted 0.1 percent between July and September, down from a prior estimate of zero growth, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.
Economists had widely expected a shallow recession at the end of last year as households came under pressure from higher borrowing costs and rising prices for everyday essentials, forcing cutbacks elsewhere. Widespread strikes across the economy and heavy rainfall also dampened activity.