The British economy declined by 0.8 percent in the second quarter of this year, the fifth straight quarterly drop, according to preliminary estimates released Friday by the Office for National Statistics.
The report also showed that the British economy shrunk by 5.6 percent in the second quarter compared with the same quarter last year, the biggest drop since quarterly records began in 1955.
Construction fell 2.2 percent in the second quarter, putting it nearly 15 percent below the same quarter last year, the biggest year-on-year decline on record.
The British economy began its contraction in the second quarter of last year when it declined by 0.1 percent. The economy was down 2.4 percent in the first quarter of 2009 from the previous three months. The International Monetary Fund has predicted in its latest forecast that UK economy will decline by 4.2 percent this year./.