UK economy has entered recession after recording two successive quarters of negative economic growth in the second half of last year, official data showed on Thursday.

Gross domestic product shrank by 0.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023 after contracting 0.1 per cent in the previous three months, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement, meeting the technical definition of a recession.

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 per cent 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 per cent between July and September, down from a prior estimate of zero growth, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.