UK economic growth in the third quarter has been revised down from original estimates.

The Office for National Statistics said that between July and September gross domestic product grew at 0.5 per cent, rather than the 0.6 per cent previously thought.

The revision means the annual growth rate is now 2.1 per cent, rather than the previously thought 2.2 per cent. The new figures fall further below the Treasury's lower end growth predictions of 2.25 per cent.

Growth in the service sector, currently the main engine for the economy, was revised down from 0.8 per cent to 0.6 per cent.

The figures were made available to the Treasury on November 16 to assist preparations for the pre-Budget report on November 27, the ONS also said.

News of the slowing UK economy coincided with renewed fears that the economy of continental Europe could be heading for a prolonged slowdown.

Statistics from Germany show that in the third quarter the country's GDP contracted by 0.1 per cent. Without improvement during the final three months of this year, the German economy could technically enter recession, which is defined as two quarters of negative growth.