British GDP shrinks more than expected

LONDON, June 30 (UPI) -- Britain's gross domestic product shrank 2.4 percent in the first quarter, contracting more than economists predicted, the Office for National Statistics said.

Economists had predicted a drop of 2.1 percent.

The decline was the worst quarterly drop since 1958 and included a 6.9 percent decline in construction output and a 5.1 percent decline in industrial output, The Times of London reported.

The figures released Tuesday were revisions of previous estimates. The GDP was previously estimated to have contracted 1.9 percent in the first quarter.

"The downward revision to first quarter GDP growth clearly leaves an extremely weak platform for growth this year," said economist Jonathan Loynes at Capital Economics.

"The average GDP growth in 2009 now looks likely to be minus 4 percent or weaker rather than the minus 3.5 percent we previously expected," he said.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has predicted the British economy will shrink 4.3 percent in 2009 and break even, showing no growth or contraction in 2010.