(ONS) UK gross domestic product improved by 7.5% in 2021, the strongest since 1941, making it the fastest-growing economy in the developed world in the year.
The robust GDP happens even as growth fell 0.2% in December on fresh impacts of the omicron Covid-19 variant. The contraction was still below the expected decline of 0.6%.
The fall in GDP in December reflected a 0.5% service sector contraction, partially offset by production increases of 3% and construction uptick of 2.0%.
On a quarterly basis, UK GDP improved by 1%, with the output in the quarter 0.4% below the pre-pandemic level.
The robust annual GDP now offers relief to the UK economy, which contracted 9.4% in 2020 in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Annabel Williams, a personal finance specialist at Nutmeg, says attention could now shift to the cost of living, which poses a challenge to the economy. The high costs come even as the Bank of England projects inflation to hit 7.2% in April.
FTSE 100 is down -0.83%, GBPUSD is down -0.02%.
