The figures will offer some succour to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is counting on economic recovery to bolster his support at a national election expected on May 6.

The Office for National Statistics revised up its first estimate of fourth quarter growth to 0.3 percent from 0.1 percent, but calculated that a total 6.2 percent of output had been wiped out during the recession, more than the 6.0 percent first thought and the deepest in over 50 years.

Gilt futures fell modestly after the data, which is likely to provoke mixed reactions at the Bank of England. The central bank expected an upward revision to Q4 growth but will now judge there is even greater slack in the economy pulling down on inflation.

"I don't think we're out of the woods," said Adam Chester, economist at Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets. "The first quarter is now going to be the focus and given the weak January we have had and the bad weather, there is still a distinct possibility that we could dip back into the red in the first quarter." The government also said it was too early to declare victory and that ongoing support for the economy should continue.

"While it is welcome to see an upward revision, recent data in the EU and elsewhere has indicated that there are risks and uncertainties to this recovery, and there is no room for complacency," a Treasury spokesman said.

The upward revision to Q4 GDP was the result of new figures which showed the service sector grew by 0.5 percent, five times faster than initially estimated.

Industrial output was also revised up to 0.4 percent from an initial estimate of 0.1 percent.

The pace of growth was also helped by a big slowdown in the pace of destocking by companies, which reduced stock levels by 2.784 billion pounds in the fourth quarter compared to 4.212 billion in the third.

This change added 0.5 percentage points to GDP growth in the fourth quarter, the ONS said.

Year-on-year, however, the ONS said GDP fell by 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter, more than the 3.2 percent earlier estimated because of downward revisions to earlier data.

In the third quarter, the economy contracted by 0.3 percent - more than the 0.2 percent previously reported.

While the fourth quarter is the first growth since Q1 2008, the recession was the deepest since comparable quarterly records began in the 1950s.