Britain's economy shrank by a smaller than expected 0.7 per cent in the second quarter, after statisticians revised up their estimates for the manufacturing, energy, wholesale and motor vehicles sectors.
The Office for National Statistics said that took the annual drop up to 5.5 per cent, still the sharpest fall since records began in 1955.
Analysts had expected an unchanged reading for a fall of 0.8 per cent on the quarter and a drop of 5.6 per cent on the year.
The ONS said the upward revision was mainly due to upward revisions to manufacturing, energy extraction and supply, wholesale and motor vehicle selling. It said there was anecdotal evidence that the government's car scrappage scheme had helped.
The data confirmed that construction output suffered its biggest annual fall since records began in 1948. The fall in annual services sector output was the biggest since records began in 1955.
Gross fixed capital formation suffered its biggest quarterly fall since the first quarter 1991.
Reuters