The UK enjoyed a sixth straight quarterly expansion, with its economy growing by 0.8% in the second quarter (on an annual basis, GDP expanded by 3.1%, the fastest annual growth rate since the final quarter of 2007). This means that the UK’s economy has overtaken its precession peak. The recovery means that the Bank of England is expected to begin slowly raising interest rates in the near future. The expansion was led by the dominant services sector, which expanded by 1%, the strongest growth since the third quarter of 2012.

The Eurozone’s recovery ground to a halt as the economy stagnated in the second quarter, recording zero growth and increasing the pressure on the European Central Bank to take measures to stimulate the economy. The Eurozone suffered as a result of the German economy contracting by 0.2%, the first fall since 2012, as foreign trade and investment, particularly in the construction sector, weighed on growth.

Over the second quarter, the US economy expanded at an annual rate of 4%, reversing the contraction seen in the first quarter (when the economy shrank by 2.1%). The growth was also better than the 3% economists had predicted. The economy was boosted by a 2.5% increase in consumer spending (up from 1.2% in the previous quarter), which makes up more than two-thirds of US economic activity. There was also an increase in exports, business spending and local government spending.

China’s economy grew by 7.5% in the second quarter of 2014, compared to the previous year. The latest results appear to show that the recovery is slowly taking hold as government stimulus measures kick in.

This report contains quarterly statistics data for markets around the world.