UK economic growth 'weakest in Europe' during first quarter of 2017, data suggests

13 Jun 2017

The UK economy experienced the weakest rate of growth in the EU during the first quarter of this year, figures published by European statistics agency Eurostat have suggested.

Britain's economy grew by just 0.2% in the three months to March – a significant fall from the rate of 0.7% recorded during the last quarter of 2016.

Experts believe that Brexit was partly to blame for the UK’s low economic growth rate, alongside rising prices due to lower sterling.

The data also revealed that growth for the EU as a whole totalled 0.6% in the first quarter of 2017. It found that the French economy grew by 0.4%, whilst German economic growth rose by 0.6%.

Economists expect Britain's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rate to rise slightly in the coming months.

The UK economy is set to grow by 1.6% by the end of 2017, as predicted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). However, the OECD also expects UK economic growth to fall to 1% during 2018, as Brexit looms.