Rebounding strongly from growth of 1.9% in 2005, the British economy grew by 2.7% last year, official figures revealed on Jan. 24. The 2006 growth figure was in line with British Finance Minister Gordon Brown's official annual growth forecast of 2.75%.

The economy grew by 0.8% during the three months to the end of December from the third quarter. That marked the highest pace since the second quarter of 2004 and beat market expectations of 0.7% growth.

The ONS added that GDP growth on a 12-month comparison stood at 3% during the three months to the end of December, compared with the same period of the previous year. The annual reading was the highest since the third quarter of 2004, and outperformed analysts' consensus forecasts of 2.9% growth.