Britain’s growth slower than other G7 nations
BRITAIN’S economy grew more slowly than any other country in the G7 over the past year, with the sole exception of tsunami-stricken Japan, according to the Office for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The UK’s economy grew by just 0.7 per cent over last twelve months, largely because output fell unexpectedly by 0.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010. Japan’s economy shrank by 0.9 per cent over the same period while Germany topped the table with growth of 2.4 per cent.
Across the 34 countries that make up the OECD’s membership, growth slowed for the fourth quarter in a row, from 0.3 per cent to 0.2 per cent. Of the G7 members, no nation recorded growth of more than 0.3 per cent in the three months to the end of June, suggesting the global recovery has hit a soft patch.
Angela Eagle, a Labour Treasury spokesperson, said: “These figures show that the British recovery was choked off well before the current global uncertainty and will add to criticism of George Osborne’s complacency.”
Meanwhile, Ben Broadbent, a Bank of England policymaker, warned that the economic outlook for Britain had weakened considerably in the last three to four months.