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The UK's gross domestic product fell by 0.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2009, according to official statistics released today.
It was the sixth quarter in a row to record a fall, in what is the country's worst recession on record.
The British economy was predicted to grow in the third quarter.
The total loss of output since the recession began last year is 5.9 per cent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Total production output declined in the third quarter.
Between July and September it fell 0.7 per cent, compared with a fall of 0.5 per cent in the previous quarter.
Mining and quarrying made the largest contribution to the decline and manufacturing output fell by 0.2 per cent compared with a decrease of 0.1 per cent in the previous quarter.
Electricity, gas and water supply fell by 0.6 per cent compared with a decrease of 3.6 per cent on the previous quarter.
Government and other services showed zero growth, compared with negative growth of 0.2 per cent in the previous quarter. Health made the largest contribution to the marginal increase.
Vicky Redwood, an economist at Capital Economics, said a further extension to the Bank of England's quantitative easing programme looked even more likely at its meeting next month.
"The fact that the economy is still contracting despite the huge amount of policy stimulus supports our view that the recovery will be a long, slow process," she said.
"The economy now looks unlikely to grow by more than one per cent at best next year."
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd