Britain to learn triple-dip recession fate today Good morning. Britain will learn today whether it has slumped into an unprecedented triple-dip recession when economic output data for the first quarter of 2013 is published. The data, released at 9.30am by the Office for National Statistics, is eagerly awaited both in the City and in Westminster. A negative GDP reading will plunge the UK economy into its third recession (defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth), since the financial crisis began in 2008. Photograph: Office for National Statistics As well as a measure of the UK's economic strength, the latest GDP data is also a scorecard of George Osborne's performance. The chancellor is already under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to relax the pace of his fiscal programme, and stinging from the loss of Britain's AAA rating with two credit rating agencies this year. Many economists expect that Britain probably eked out a little growth at the start of this year. The City consensus is that UK GDP expanded by 0.1% between January and March. But some economists have predicted a negative reading, which would follow the 0.3% contraction in the last quarter of 2012. Britain is also the first major country to report GDP data for the first quarter of 2013, so today's data could show how the global economy is faring.