The gross domestic product uptick followed an upwardly-revised 0.3% rise in January, after an initial reading of 0.2% growth, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

Growth for the first quarter as a whole would signal the end of the UK’s recession.

“The economy grew slightly in February with widespread growth across manufacturing, particularly in the car sector,” said ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown.

“Services also grew a little with public transport and haulage, and telecommunications having strong months,” she added.

“Partially offsetting this there were notable falls across construction as the wet weather hampered many building projects.”

The UK economy shrank in both the third and fourth quarters of 2023, meeting the technical definition of a recession on the back of elevated inflation and high interest rates.

News of emergence from recession would hand a major boost to embattled Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of a general election this year.

His governing Conservatives are trailing far behind Keir Starmer’s main opposition Labour Party in opinion polls.