The Scottish economy has avoided falling in to another recession, according to new statistics.

GDP grew by 0.8% in the first three months of this year, a faster rate of growth than the UK's as a whole.

The growth comes after a decline of 0.2% in the last quarter of 2016.

Scotland's services sector grew by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2017 while production industries had a 3% expansion.

The Scottish Government's economy secretary, Keith Brown, said: "Today's figures are welcome and reinforce the fact that the fundamentals of Scotland's economy are strong.

"Scotland's output is now 6% above the pre-recession level and unemployment is at its lowest ever level."

Latest GDP figures

Brown added: "Since late 2014 our growth rate has been impacted significantly by the fortunes of the North Sea with around two thirds of the slowdown in 2016 attributed to the onshore impact of lower oil prices.

"Today's figures show a rise in output in industries linked to the North Sea for the first time since 2014.

"While there is no room for complacency, these figures - alongside a number of recent business surveys - indicate that there is growing confidence in the sector."

Scottish secretary David Mundell said: "These are very encouraging figures. The Scottish economy is returning to growth and I am pleased to see that the manufacturing sector in particular is making the most of export opportunities.

"But, over the year, Scotland has continued to lag behind the UK as a whole - so there is still a lot of work to do.

"The Scottish Government has extensive powers at their disposal to grow and support the economy and these figures underline the need for our two governments to work together as we prepare to leave the EU."