What has happened to Britain's economic growth?

When is zero economic growth a moment for celebration? When it's slightly better than the markets expected - and, if you're a nervous Conservative politician, when it appears that the economy might well have escaped slipping into recession in 2023.

- SEAN O'GRADY

It is also, very marginally, good news for Rishi Sunak. The prime minister promised that one of his five priorities for 2023 was to deliver growth over the year. The fact that Britain’s stagnating economy failed to grow in the July-to-September period, and that this news was greeted with unconfined joy by the Treasury, is a sign of how grim things really are...

What did the prime minister promise on growth?

It’s very vague, but on 4 January he stated that one of his five priorities for the year ahead was thus: “We will grow the economy, creating better-paid jobs and opportunity right across the country.” He promised more investment in local areas, and argued that, “right now, the most powerful way to achieve higher growth is to make sure the UK is the most innovative economy in the world”.

Has he hit his target?

Probably, just, because it is so undemanding. The economy has grown by about 0.5 per cent so far this year, so unless there’s a calamitous Christmas season, the British economy will be a bit larger than it was at the end of 2022. However, 0.5 per cent remains miserable, even by recent standards, and very poor by comparison with what we were used to before the great financial crisis of 2008 – some 2 to 3 per cent growth per annum, and with minimal inflation. We’ll have some idea by late January 2024.