UK economic growth accelerated in the second quarter of the year, helped by a big jump in oil and gas production, official figures have shown.
The UK’s economy grew by an estimated 0.7% in the April to June period, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
That compared with growth of 0.4% in the first quarter of the year.
Output in the economy during the second quarter was 2.6% higher than the same period a year earlier, the ONS said.
“After a slowdown in the first quarter of 2015, overall GDP growth has returned to that typical of the previous two years,” said ONS chief economist Joe Grice.
He added, however, that Tuesday’s economic growth figure showed GDP per capita – economic growth as shared out among each member of the population – was back to “broadly level with its pre-economic downturn peak in 2008”.
The economy has now seen 10 quarters of sustained economic growth.
