The UK economy grew by 0.8% between January and March, down from growth of 1.3% in the previous three months, the Office for National Statistics today said.
In the first three months of the year, the economy grew by 0.8%, which was driven by hospitality and travel industries recovering from coronavirus pandemic restrictions.
The Bank of England has warned the UK faces a "sharp economic slowdown" this year as it pushed the base rate up again last week.
Prices are rising at their fastest rate for 30 years, driven by soaring fuel, food and energy costs.
Its has forecast that inflation - the rate at which prices rise - could reach more than 10% by the end of the year.
The ONS said a 15.1% fall in repairs of motor vehicles and motorcycles was the main factor behind the UK's services sector shrinking in March.
However, it said the construction industry saw a strong month due to repairs needing to be carried out on homes and buildings following storms across in the UK in February.
Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), said: "The UK economy grew for the fourth consecutive quarter and is now clearly above pre-pandemic levels, although growth in the latest three months was the lowest for a year.
"This was driven by growth in a number of service sectors as the economy continued to recover from Covid-19 effects, including hospitality, transport, employment agencies and travel agencies. There was also strong growth in IT."
He added: "Our latest monthly estimates show GDP (gross domestic product) fell a little in March, with drops in both services and in production.
"Construction, though, saw a strong month, thanks partly to repair work after the February storms."
Hinesh Patel, portfolio manager at Quilter Investors, said: “UK GDP has come in weaker than expected for Q1 and March as the economic toll of inflation begins to bite.
"January was the only positive month of the quarter as the Russia-Ukraine conflict caused supply chain woes across industrial sectors and compounded to weigh on economic growth.
“Ultimately things are only going to get worse for consumers. Energy bills are expected to soar again later this year when the price cap is reassessed, while inflation is proving stickier than expected.
"The Bank of England has a near impossible task of managing the economy out of this quagmire. They are in aggressive rate raising mode for now, but this cannot remain the case for long given the economic issues already starting to play out."
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak insisted there is support for households.
“The UK economy recovered quickly from the worst of the pandemic and our growth in the first few months of the year was strong, faster than the US, Germany and Italy, but I know these are still anxious times.
“Our recovery is being disrupted by Putin’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine and other global challenges but we are continuing to help people where we can.
“Growth is the best way to help families in the longer-term so as well as easing immediate pressures on households and businesses, we are investing in capital, people and ideas to boost living standards in the future.”
Rachel Reeves MP, Labour's Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: "Today’s GDP figures will add to the worries families already face as prices soar and pay packets are crunched.
"That the Chancellor ignored serious warnings undermines any claim he couldn’t have done more to protect the British economy from soaring inflation.
"The Government's Queen's Speech this week was out of ideas and out of touch, devoid of any real economic plan for growth or to tackle the cost of living crisis.
"Anything less than coming back urgently with an Emergency Budget to help ease the pressure from the cost of living crisis is a failure by this Conservative government.”
Around 1.5million UK households will struggle to pay food and energy bills, a leading think tank warned yesterday.
Soaring inflation compounded by the war in Ukraine will see many families hit with food and energy bills greater than their disposable income, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said.
Niesr said Chancellor Rishi Sunak should hike Universal Credit payments by £25 per week and give a one-off £250 cash payout to the UK's 11.3million lower-income households.
But the Prime Minister said while more support could come later in the year, the Government cannot "completely shield" people from the rising cost of living.
"We will continue to use all our ingenuity and compassion for as long as it takes," he added, in a message to MPs.
"The Chancellor and I will be saying more about this in the days to come."
Households are currently facing rising energy bills, inflation is forecast to hit 10% and benefits and wages failing to keep up with the increase in prices.
Charities, campaigners and opposition politicians criticised the lack of any short-term measures to help people faced with soaring costs in their day-to-day lives.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called the response to cost of living demands "pathetic" and accused the Government of being "bereft of leadership".
He told Mr Johnson: "This Government's failure to grow the economy over a decade, combined with its inertia in the face of spiralling bills, means that we are staring down the barrel of something we haven't seen in decades, a stagflation crisis."
Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation think tank, said ministers had not announced "anything that will make a material difference" to boosting economic growth.
