Gross domestic product is the economic output of Britain. See how it has changed over time
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• Interactive chart: How does this recession compare?
• Chart: GDP change since 2008
We've just escaped a triple-dip recession: GDP for the last three months rose by 0.3%. If the economy had shrunks again in the first quarter of this year, that would have plunged the UK into its third recession in the past five years, an unprecedented triple-dip.
As the ONS explains, it's hardly dynamic growth:
They blamed the weather for a low rate of growth: "The strongest evidence was that it reduced retail output in January and March 2013 but boosted demand for electricity and gas in February and March, which increased output in the energy supply industries."GDP was 0.4% higher in Q1 2013 than in Q3 2011 and therefore has been broadly flat over the last 18 months."
The figures above show how recessions compare - thanks to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research for the data. The economic recovery since the crash of 2008 is the slowest since 1921.
A technical recession is defined as two or more consecutive quarters of economic decline. That means the UK is has just missed its third recession in four years.
The data we have gathered shows percentage change in GDP going back to 1955 by quarter.
This shows what's happened to GDP since the peak of 2008.
he spreadsheet to download shows GDP in cash, ie what it was that year not adjusted for inflation, total inflation-adjusted figures and per capita inflation adjusted figures.
And this is how it compares. While we are below the US and Japan - the UK is doing better than the rest of Europe.
The ONS explains today's data as follows:
• By far the largest contribution to Q1 2013 GDP growth came from services; these industries increased by 0.6% contributing 0.47 percentage points (pp) to the 0.3% increase in GDP.
• There was also a small upward contribution (0.03pp) from production; these industries rose by 0.2%, largely due to mining & quarrying, which increased by 3.2% following a weak Q4 2012 when extended maintenance in the North Sea reduced output.
• These upward contributions were partially offset by construction; these industries fell by 2.5%, reducing GDP growth by 0.17pp.
• Before the sharp fall in output in 2008 and 2009 the economy peaked in Q1 2008; the lowest level was in Q2 2009. GDP fell 6.3% from peak to trough. In Q1 2013 GDP was estimated to be 2.6% below the peak in Q1 2008.
You can find out who gets access to this data early too by clicking here.
Look at the chart and it's striking how dramatic the recessions were of the past - but how quickly they were over.
This is just an estimate: we get one each month for the next two and it can be revised up or down. The ONS explains how its dataset is not complete yet:
At this stage it is estimated that the information content of this estimate is around 44% of the total required for the final output based estimate. This includes good information for the first two months of the quarter, with an estimate for the third month which takes account of early returns to the monthly business survey of 44,000 businesses (which typically has a response rate of between 30-50% at this point in time). The estimate is therefore subject to revisions as more data becomes available, but between the preliminary and third estimates of GDP, revisions are typically small (around 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points), with the frequency of upward and downward revisions broadly equal.
As several of our posters below have pointed out, there's more to life than GDP– but here are the latest GDP figures from the ONS for you to explore.
Data summary
Download the full data
• SOURCE: ONS
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