STORY: Britain's economy did not enter a recession in the final three months of last year...but it came very close.

The UK showed zero growth in the quarter.

The country previously saw output fall in the three months to the end of September.

A second consecutive quarter of falling output would have met the usual European definition of a recession.

British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt:

''Well the fact that we have avoided recession, in fact we are the fastest growing major country last year, shows there is underlying resilience in the UK economy but we are not out of the woods. Inflation is still much too high, that is causing pain for families up and down the country."

Official figures showed Friday (February 10) the economy did contract in December.

Gross domestic product fell 0.5% that month, when Britain saw rail strikes and bad weather.

Output in the fourth quarter was still 0.8% below its pre-health crisis level.

That was a sharp contrast to other major advanced economies, which are now above pre-health crisis size.

Analysts believe Britain still faces the risk of a recession soon.

The Bank of England forecast last week the country would enter a shallow but long recession.

It predicts it will start early this year and last five quarters in total.

British living standards have been hit hard by inflation, which reached a 41-year high of 11.1% in October.

The country has also felt more pressure from the Bank of England's quick rise in interest rates.