Britain bounces back from recession on Olympics charge

Britain bounced back from recession in the third quarter, clocking its strongest GDP growth in five years, boosted partly by robust Olympics spending, according to official data.

According to analysts, the jump in growth was helped by several temporary factors, including the Olympics, which may mask a weaker underlying picture. Overall, though the growth was much better than expected and might mean Britain's full 2012 economy would not be in the red.

According to the Office for National Statistics, Britain's GDP was up by 1.0 per cent between July and September, beating forecasts for a 0.6 per cent gain, after shrinking by 0.4 per cent between April and June.

The return to growth following three consecutive quarters of contraction came as welcome news for a coalition government under pressure to act more forcefully to revive the economy.

However, the third quarter rise was helped by ticket sales for the London Olympics,  which, according to the statistics office, accounted for a fifth of the quarterly increase - and a rebound from an extra public holiday in the second quarter.

Apart from the one-off effects, economists said growth of the UK economy continued to be weak and that headwinds from the euro zone were likely to act as a drag in the coming months.