LONDON (Reuters) - British economic growth slowed in the final three months of 2014 but still recorded its strongest full-year performance since 2007, a leading think tank estimated on Friday.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) estimated that quarter-on-quarter growth in gross domestic product eased to 0.6 percent for the period October-December, down from 0.7 percent in the three months to September.
Private-sector economists had been forecasting a similar slowdown in growth as business surveys and official data fell back from unusually high levels seen earlier in 2014.
"This is broadly in line with the average quarter-on-quarter growth over the last 18 months," NIESR said.
For 2014 as a whole, NIESR calculates the economy grew by 2.6 percent, up from 1.7 percent in 2013 and the strongest annual reading since the financial crisis, but well below full-year growth forecasts from the Bank of England (BoE) and economists.
The BoE and private-sector forecasts were based on GDP data for the first nine months of 2014 which were heavily revised down by the Office for National Statistics just before Christmas.