Britain's economy unexpectedly grew in February, helped by clients of manufacturers rushing to stockpile goods ahead of Brexit, official data showed on Wednesday. Gross domestic product grew by 0.2 percent from January, the Office for National Statistics said.
Economists taking part in a Reuters poll had expected zero growth. Britain's economy has held up better than many economists expected since the 2016 Brexit referendum although it has slowed ahead of its departure from the European Union and as the world economy loses momentum.
The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday that Britain would grow by 1.2 percent in 2019 - as long as it avoids the shock of a no-deal Brexit. That would be faster than Germany's 0.8 percent and only a touch slower than France's 1.3 percent.
Wednesday's data showed that over the three months to February, the economy grew by 0.3 percent, holding at the same pace as in January - which was revised up from a previous estimate - and stronger than a forecast of 0.2 percent in the Reuters poll.
Manufacturing output jumped by 0.9 percent in February from January, stronger than all forecasts in the Reuters poll and accounting for about half of the overall economic growth rate.
Britain's dominant services sector grew by 0.1 percent in monthly terms in February, held back by the 12th fall in a row in the financial services sector - the longest such run on record - while construction rose by 0.4 percent.
Export volumes fell by 0.4 percent in the three months to February from the three months to November while imports jumped by 6.8 percent.
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