British economy shrinks 0.2% in fourth quarter Feb 24 06:37 AM US/Eastern Britain's economy contracted by 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year compared with the third quarter, unrevised official data showed on Friday. The Office for National Statistics maintained its initial reading for British gross domestic product during the final three months of 2011 that was published last month. However it revised its reading for the whole of 2011, stating that GDP grew by 0.8 percent last year rather than 0.9 percent as first thought.