Economic Review

SummaryGross Domestic Product expanded by 0.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2010. This was slower than in the previous quarter and reflected lower contributions to growth from household consumption, government consumption and net trade. On the other hand, changes to inventories and Gross Fixed Capital Formation made larger contributions to growth. The household saving ratio has fallen since the summer of 2009 as consumption recovers and growth in disposable income remains weak, although it edged upwards in 2010 Q3. The Private Non Financial Corporations sector remains a strong net lender to the rest of the economy, largely due to a strong fall in investment spending in the recession and a slow pick up during the recovery so far. Central government though is increasingly a net borrower due to sharply falling net taxes on income and wealth. The UK Current Account remains in deficit, but a growing deficit on the trade in goods and services balance has been largely offset by a rising surplus on the investment income balance.