The figures revealed that the UK economy increased marginally by 1.4% in 2019, slightly higher than the 1.3% rate the year before.

The ONS revealed that UK gross domestic product (GDP) was flat from October to December, following revised growth of 0.5% from July to September.

The economy stagnated as manufacturing contracted for the third quarter in a row, whilst the service sector slowed significantly around the time of the General Election.

The services sector, which accounts for over three-quarters of the UK economy, was boosted by just 0.1% in the final quarter of 2019, while the construction sector grew by 0.5%. On the other hand, the manufacturing sector saw output drop by 1.1%.

The ONS revised up the growth figure for the third quarter of 2019 to 0.5% from its previous estimate of 0.4%.

In the last quarter of 2019, the trade deficit in goods and services swelled to £6.5 billion from the £4bn deficit seen between July and September.

Contrastingly, the goods trade deficit dropped in the last three months of 2019. This change was mostly accounted for by a £2.2bn decrease in machinery and transport equipment imports, suggesting that orders could have been brought forward to avoid the original October Brexit deadline.

Against a backdrop of Brexit uncertainty, household spending increased by only 0.1% in the last three months of the year, marking the weakest quarterly movement since a decline in the last three months of 2015, The Herald reports.