GDP has increased by 0.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2011, compared to the first quarter of the year.

The rate of growth has slowed from 0.5 per cent in the first quarter, but puts growth at 0.7 per cent year-on-year.

Output in the production industries continued to decline, falling from 0.1 per cent negative growth to 1.4 per cent decline. Growth in the services industry also slowed, from 0.9 per cent to 0.5 per cent growth.

However, output from construction came back from a decline of 3.4 per cent in the previous quarter to 0.5 per cent positive growth.

The Office of National Statistics said a number of key events during the last quarter affected the figures, including the additional bank holiday for the royal wedding, the royal wedding itself, the after-effects of the Japanese tsunami, the first phase of Olympic ticket sales, and record warm weather in April.

Hotels and restaurants were boosted with a quarter on quarter increase of 2.2 per cent following the warm weather and bank holiday, but the same warm weather caused electricity and gas supply output to decrease by 3.2 per cent.

It estimated that if these events had not taken place, overall the services sector would have experienced 0.4 per cent growth and the production sector would have experienced 0.1 per cent growth.