The British economy contracted 0.7 percent in the second quarter compared with the first quarter of this year, the Office for National Statistics said Friday.
The British economy shrank less in the second quarter than in the first, according to a revised gross domestic product report released by the office last month, which showed the British economy had been down by 0.8 percent.
However, the British economy contracted 5.5 percent in the second quarter on a year-on-year basis, the biggest drop since 1955.
The report showed that the British output of the production industries fell by 0.6 percent in the second quarter, compared with a fall of 5.1 percent in the previous quarter.
The output of manufacturing industries dropped by 0.2 percent, compared with a fall of 5.5 percent in the previous quarter.
Construction output fell by 2.2 percent over the quarter, unchanged from the previous estimate.
Output in the service industries fell by 0.6 percent in the second quarter, up from a fall of 1.6 percent in the previous quarter.
It is the fifth quarter in a row of decline for the British economy.
Many authoritative analysts have predicted that the British economy would shrink more than 4 percent this year and increase at a rate of under 0.5 percent next year.