British economy shrinks, but not into recession By Jim Boulden and Bharati Naik, CNN January 25, 2012 -- Updated 1010 GMT (1810 HKT) Britain's economy shrinks by 0.2% in the last quarter of 2011, the government says Growth was positive for the year as a whole, the Office of National Statistics says London (CNN) -- The British economy shrank by an estimated 0.2% in the last quarter of 2011, the Office of National Statistics announced Wednesday, but the country is not yet in recession because growth was positive in the quarter before that. Recession is commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction. Britain's economy grew by 0.9% overall in 2011, the office said. Britain has the seventh-largest economy in the world, according to the Center for Economics and Business Research.