Top of the world: UK economy winning global growth race

Only Canada is yet to report growth for the second quarter, and it appears unlikely that it will knock the UK off the top when it does, on August 29.

The Office for National Statistics' (ONS) estimate of the UK's quarterly growth remains unchanged, at 0.8pc.

Jeremy Cook, of currency firm World First, said that the figure is "probably the high water mark for growth this year".

Paul Hollingsworth of Capital Economics said that with euro area figures "highlighting the fragility of the recovery there, the UK's economic recovery seems likely to remain a distinctly domestic-led affair over the second half of this year".

Data released on Thursday showed that overall Eurozone growth had stalled in the second quarter of 2014.

The revised estimate of UK growth saw some tweaks to key components of output in the second quarter.

Industrial production's expansion was revised down from 0.4pc to 0.3pc, and construction output's 0.5pc fall has been upwardly revised from a 0.5pc contraction to flat.

The changes suggested that the recovery "was strong, but became a little less balanced in the second quarter", said Mr Hollingsworth.

Rob Wood of Berenberg said that he expected that growth "could well get more lopsided in the near term".

The UK's manufacturing sector is "internationally exposed", said Mr Wood, and has seen geopolitical tensions over Ukraine weigh on production.

Berenberg sees output expansion at 3pc this year, increasing to growth of 3.2pc in 2015.

Unusually, the ONS did not published its usual expenditure breakdown of GDP.

The agency is currently implementing a significant overhaul of the methodology it uses, delaying this data's release until September 30.

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