"Our monthly estimates of GDP suggest that output grew by 0.6 per cent in the final quarter of 2017, an increase compared with the third quarter when the economy expanded by 0.4 per cent and the strongest quarterly growth estimate since the fourth quarter of 2016. Based on this, the UK economy expanded by 1.8 per cent in 2017".

Amit Kara, Head of UK Macroeconomic Forecasting at NIESR, said "We estimate that economic growth recovered to 0.6 per cent in the final quarter of this year from 0.4 per cent in the third quarter. Economic growth has picked up in the second half of 2017 after a period of subdued growth in the first six months. The recovery has been driven by both the manufacturing and the service sectors, supported by the weaker pound and a buoyant global economy, while construction output continues to lag