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British economic output is now estimated at 4.6
percent lower in 2009 than it was in 2007. The decline had been
set at 5.2 percent on June 30 and 6.0 percent in the last major
annual revision to gross domestic product data, in 2013.
The Office for National Statistics is overhauling how it
calculates British GDP in response to new European Union
statistical rules and some domestic changes, and publishing
regular updates. Further revisions - including quarterly data
and figures covering 2010-2012 - are due on Sept. 3.
The main cause of Tuesday's revision was a change in how much
Britain's economy was estimated to have contracted as it entered
recession in 2008.
The ONS now believes Britain's economy shrank just 0.3 percent
in 2008, compared with an estimate of a 1.1 percent decline
published only six weeks ago. Last year, it said Britain's
economy shrank by 0.8 percent in 2008.
The ONS said the latest change was due to "further quality
assurance work" and that the average growth rate in Britain's
economy between 1998 and 2009 was unchanged at 2.2 percent.
It had no further details on the exact reason for the change in
2008.
(Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by Larry King)
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