Investing.com - An increase in business investment helped lift U.K. economic growth in the fourth quarter, according to official data released on Wednesday, indicating that the economic recovery is deepening.
U.K. gross domestic product increased by 0.7% in the three-month to December, the Office for National Statistics said, unrevised from the preliminary estimate and in line with forecasts.
On a year-over-year basis, the U.K. economy expanded by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, down slightly from the preliminary estimate for 2.8% growth.
The U.K. economy expanded 1.8% on a full year basis in 2013, the highest since 2007, from just 0.3% in 2012.
The ONS said the largest contributors to fourth quarter growth were household spending, business investment and net trade.
Business investment in the quarter was up 8.5% from a year earlier, which was the largest increase since the first quarter of 2012, as firms spent more on new buildings and equipment.
Business investment rose 2.4% in the fourth quarter, up from 2% in the three months to September.
UK household spending rose by 0.4% in the final three months of 2013, the ninth increase in a row.
Net trade contributed 0.4% to growth in the fourth quarter, as exports rose and imports declined.
The ONS revised down its estimate of manufacturing output growth to 0.7%, from the initial forecast of 0.9%.
Output in the dominant service sector, which makes up more than three quarters of GDP, was unrevised at 0.8%, the same as the previous quarter. Construction output was revised up to a 0.2% increase, from an initial estimate for a 0.1% decline.