The economy grew in Scotland in the fourth quarter of last year, in contrast to a contraction UK-wide, according to statistics covering the final three months of last year.

Gross domestic product increased by 0.5% during the final quarter of 2012 compared with the previous three months, and by 0.4% compared with the same period of 2011.

The growth is partly due to a large increase in electricity and gas supply, which includes strong renewable energy output between October and December, the Scottish Government said.

The GDP figures were published at the same time as the latest employment figures, which show unemployment below 200,000 for first time since 2009.

Finance Secretary John Swinney said: "It is very welcome to see these positive trends in employment and in economic growth for Scotland.

"These figures also show Scotland's economy growing faster than the UK's at the end of 2012 with a second consecutive quarter of growth.

"We are committed to building sustainable economic growth for Scotland and we are adopting a specifically Scottish approach to this. We are maintaining the most competitive business environment anywhere in the UK and investing in our infrastructure."

The figures show that construction sector output grew 0.6% in the final three months of the year compared with the previous quarter but fell 5.1% on the same period the year before.

Output in the services sector, which covers areas such as hotels and transport, grew 0.3% on the previous quarter and by 1.1% compared with the same three months of 2011. Services account for almost three-quarters of the Scottish economy (about 72%).

Production output grew 1.1% compared with the third quarter of 2012 and by just 0.1% compared with the 2011 rate.