London agencies:
Official data showed the UK economy contracted by 0.2% in the third quarter of 2022, signaling what could be the start of a prolonged recession.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected a contraction of 0.5%.
The contraction is not yet technically a recession - a contraction for two consecutive quarters - especially after the second quarter's contraction was revised by 0.1% to an increase of 0.2%.
The Bank of England last week predicted the longest recession in the country since records began nearly a hundred years ago, indicating that the downturn that began in the third quarter is likely to continue until 2024, and raise unemployment to 6.5 percent over the next two years.
Britain is facing a historical cost of living crisis, fueled by inflationary pressures on citizens' sources of income due to the rise in energy and commodity prices.
Recent data from the British Office for National Statistics showed that a growing proportion of more than half of the country's population is suffering severely during the rising cost of living crisis in the UK.
According to a report published by "Sky News", renters, individuals with disabilities and those on low incomes are the most affected groups during the crisis, and about half of the adult population of the UK is facing difficulties with energy bills, rent or mortgage payments.
The inflation rate in Britain has reached unprecedented levels in nearly 40 years, rising to 10.1 percent in September.
The Bank of England recently decided on the biggest rate hike since 1989 as policy makers try to tame double-digit inflation.
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