Britain's 2015 economic growth upgraded

Britain's economy last year grew slightly faster than thought after a better-than-expected final quarter, official data showed on Thursday.

Gross domestic product -- the total value of all goods and services produced by a country -- expanded by 2.3 percent in 2015, the Office for National Statistics said in its final estimate.

That was a shade higher than an estimate of 2.2 percent given last month. However, it still marked a slowdown from 2.9-percent expansion in 2014.

GDP grew by 0.6 percent in the October-December period, or fourth quarter, upgraded from 0.5 percent.

"GDP growth was a pleasant surprise," said Brenda Kelly, head analyst at traders London Capital Group.

It comes after the British government recently cut its economic growth outlook citing global markets turbulence rooted in China.

Britain's economy was forecast to grow by only 2.0 percent this year, down from a November estimate of 2.4 percent.

And gross domestic product growth was expected to stand at 2.2 percent next year, down from an earlier predicted 2.5 percent.