A recession is “on its way” despite the British economy continuing to surpass the Bank of England’s expectations, economists warned as GDP rose in April.

Monthly UK real gross domestic product climbed by 0.2pc in April, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This matched the consensus expectation among economists but exceeded the Bank of England’s forecasts. Threadneedle Street had forecast that GDP will stay flat across the first half of 2023.

The April data comes after average growth of 0.1pc across the first three months of the year.

The GDP figures followed higher than expected wage growth data on Tuesday, which triggered a spike in gilt yields as markets bet on higher interest rates.

But economists warned that the impact of higher interest rates had yet to be felt, and that the prospect of a recession in the second half of the year was still likely.

Ruth Gregory, deputy chief economist at Capital Economics, said: “We think interest rates need to rise further to quash inflation, from 4.5pc now to a peak of 5.25pc.”

A recession will still follow in the second half of this year, due to the delayed toll of high interest rates, Ms Gregory warned. By the end of June, less than 40pc of the drag from high borrowing costs will have hit the economy, she said.