LONDON, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Britain's economy is expected to return to growth in the second half of this year despite a expected GDP fall of 0.2 percent for the full year, according to a quarterly forecast report issued by Ernst and Young Item Club on Monday.
The report, however, forecast that Britain's national economic output will turn to a growth of 1.2 percent in 2013 and 2.4 percent in 2014 and 2015.
"Trade performance in the first half of the year has been deeply disappointing, offsetting the positive effect of falling inflation and rising employment on consumption," read the report.
The country's export is expected to grow 0.6 percent this year and then to jump by 6.3 percent, 6.9 percent and 6.8 percent in next three years respectively.
Fixed asset investment, meanwhile, would increase 1.4 percent this year, and 2.0 percent in 2013, the report said.
The ITEM Club saw more hopeful consumer trends reinforced by prospected recovery in the mortgage and housing markets next spring.
It said the move back to growth over the medium term in Britain would depend much on recovery in the world market.
Britain's 1.5-trillion-pound (2.4 trillion U.S. dollars) economy is the third-largest in the 27-member European Union after Germany and France. The country has been locked in recession for the last nine months, with a reported drop in economic output of 0.4 percent in the second quarter.
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