The British economy expanded by 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2004, unrevised from the previous estimate but the pace of household spending slowed markedly, official figures showed today.
The Office for National Statistics said that consumer spending was now estimated to have risen by just 0.2% in the final quarter of 2004 from an initial estimate of 0.4%.
This was the weakest rate of growth since the first quarter of 2003 when consumer confidence was hit by the run-up to the Iraq war.
But the ONS revised up its estimates of consumer spending for earlier in the year, meaning it has slowed at an even sharper rate than previously envisaged, perhaps in response to a slowing housing market and five interest rate hikes.
Separately, the ONS released figures on the balance of payments showing a current account gap of £5.05 billion sterling, lower than expected and equivalent to 1.7% of GDP.
For the full year, the deficit was £25.7 billion or 2.2% of GDP, the highest since 2001.
