UK Economy Expands Less Than Estimated In Q2

The UK economy grew at a slower-than-estimated pace in the second quarter on weaker industrial and construction sectors, official data revealed Monday.Gross domestic product advanced 0.5 percent fro...

RTT Staff Writer•Monday, September 30, 2024•1 min read

The UK economy grew at a slower-than-estimated pace in the second quarter on weaker industrial and construction sectors, official data revealed Monday.

Gross domestic product advanced 0.5 percent from the first quarter, revised down from the first estimate of 0.6 percent, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed.

The economy had expanded by unrevised 0.7 percent in the first quarter, following two quarters of contraction.

Data showed that overall growth in the second quarter was driven by a 0.6 percent increase in services output but this was weaker than the initial estimate of 0.8 percent.

Moreover, the quarterly fall in industrial output was revised down to 0.3 percent from 0.1 percent. Due to a fall in transport equipment, manufacturing output dropped 0.7 percent.

Construction output marked the third consecutive fall, down 0.2 percent. It was revised from the 0.1 percent drop estimated initially.

On a yearly basis, GDP growth was revised down to 0.7 percent from 0.9 percent in the first quarter.

Further, data showed that the British economy is now 2.9 percent bigger than the pre-pandemic period.

Capital Economics’ economist Paul Dales said the Bank of England now knows that demand supported inflation a bit more in recent years, but the recent rebound in activity from the mild recession has been a bit softer.

Another report from the ONS showed that the current account deficit including previous metals widened to GBP 28.4 billion or 4.0 percent of GDP.