December 23, 2009 -- The British economy declined by 0.2percent in the third quarter, slightly better than the previously-estimated drop of 0.3 percent, the Office for National Statistics ONS said on Tuesday.

It was the third and final revision of the third quarter data --improving on earlier estimates that had put the contraction first at 0.4 percent, then 0.3 percent.   

The latest revision left the year-on-year fall of British gross domestic product unchanged from the second estimate at 5.1 percent.   

The report showed that UK output of the production industries fell by 0.9 percent in the July to September quarter, compared with a fall of 0.6 per cent in the previous quarter.   

Construction output rose by 1.9 percent over the second quarter, revised up from a fall of 1.1 per cent reported in the previous estimate.   

Output in the service industries fell by 0.2 percent in the third quarter, compared with a fall of 0.8 percent in the previous quarter. (Xinhua)