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LONDON, April 23 (Xinhua) — British economy increased 0.2 percent in the first quarter of this year over the last quarter of 2009, but much lower than many analysts had expected, the Office for National Statistics (0NS) said on Friday.

The gain of British gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter is half of 0.4 percent rate forecast by analysts. UK economy increased at a revised 0.5 percent in the final three month of 2009 after declining 6 quarters in a row.

Comparing with same quarter of last year, British GDP contracted by 0.3 percent in the first quarter, the smallest decline since the third quarter of 2008.

The report showed that total services output in Britain rose 0.2 percent in the first three months of 2010, compared with a rise of 0.5 percent in the previous quarter. The largest contribution to the weaker growth was from distribution, hotels and restaurants, but there was increased growth in business services and finance and government and other services. Transport, storage and communication growth was unchanged.

Manufacturing output increased 0.7 percent, compared with an increase of 0.8 percent in the previous quarter. Mining and quarrying fell 0.7 percent, compared with an increase of 0.3 percent in the previous quarter.

UK construction output fell 0.7 percent in the first quarter, compared with a decrease of 0.9 percent in the previous quarter. A significant proportion of this service industry is forecast in the preliminary estimate.

Agriculture, forestry and fishing output in the country decreased 1.1 percent in the first quarter, compared with a fall of 1.5 percent in the previous quarter.

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