UK narrowly avoids recession in back half of 2022 despite December slump

The U.K. economy showed no growth in the final quarter of 2022, but shrunk by 0.5% in December — more than expected by analysts.

The figures mean the country narrowly avoided a recession — commonly defined as two quarters of negative growth — following a 0.2% contraction in the third quarter.

This is a developing story and will be updated shortly.