Britain in recession

LONDON, Jan 24, 2009 (AFP) - Britain is in recession for the first time since 1991, official data showed Friday, triggering a plea from Prime Minister Gordon Brown for renewed international cooperation to tackle the financial crisis.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that gross domestic product (GDP) had shrunk by 1.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared with the previous three-month period when it contracted by 0.6 percent.

The figure for the final quarter of 2008 showed the biggest fall in GDP since 1980.