The British economy contracted by 0.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2009, revised figures issued by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Friday, according to dpa. The decline in the gross domestic product (GDP) between April and the end of June was less sharp than expected, analysts said, encouraging hopes of an economic upturn later this year. However, the GDP fall was much less than in the first quarter which showed a contraction of 2.4 per cent. The year-on-year decline in GDP was put at 5.5 per cent, the biggest since records began in 1955. "The small improvement cannot obscure the severity of the UK recession and the challenges facing us," David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said about Friday's figures. While France and Germany have said their economies have emerged from recession, British analysts have warned that the downturn could prove to be more prolonged than originally anticipated.
