British GDP growth in Q2 picks up to 0.7%

LONDON - British gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated to have increased by 0.7 percent in the second quarter of 2015 compared with growth of 0.4 percent in Q1 2015, announced the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Tuesday.

The growth pace is in line with the market expectation consensus.

The 0.7 percent increase in GDP growth in Q2 2015 implies that GDP per head would be broadly equal to the pre-economic downturn peak in Q1 2008, highlighted the ONS.

Official data showed that Britain's services industry output increased by 0.7 percent quarterly in the first quarter, and production increased by 1.0 percent. Construction growth was flat. In contrast, agriculture decreased by 0.7 percent.

The country's GDP was 2.6 percent higher in Q2 2015 compared with same quarter a year earlier, figures showed.

In the second quarter, Britain's GDP was estimated to have been 5.2 percent higher than the pre-economic downturn peak of Q1 2008, said ONS.