The UK economy grew by 0.1% in the final quarter of last year, meaning that the country has exited recession, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics.

The economy had contacted for six consecutive quarters, since the April-June quarter of 2008. Since then the economy has declined by 6%.

The UK is one of the last major economies to exit recession and the 0.1% growth is much weaker than the 0.4% rise that economists had predicted.

"The economy may be growing again, but it's certainly not out of the woods yet. We doubt that the UK will bounce back sharply this year as it has after previous recessions. After all, it has been no normal recession and is therefore unlikely to be a normal recovery," said Vicky Redwood, UK Economist at Capital Economics.