UK Economic Growth & GDP Trends
The UK economy shrank in May 2025, the second month in a row, with GDP dropping by 0.1 percent in both April and May changing after a 0.3 percent decrease recorded in April, as the official ONS figures show. This is the first back‑to‑back shrinking since the pandemic in 2020. Nonetheless, these drops have been reduced by a Reuters poll, which predicts growth of 1.1 percent in 2025 and a slight increase to 1.2 percent in 2026, as consumer sentiment and credit conditions also warm to some debt. In Q1 2025, growth was higher than than previously: the economy grew by about 0.6%, improving on the 2024 troughs. But unrelenting industrial output weakness and construction dragged growth down in the spring. Inflation, Jobs & Interest Rates June inflation came in at 3.6 % more than the 2 % target set by the BoE, though it was fuelled mainly by food and transportation prices. The unemployment rate increased to 4.7 per cent the highest level in almost four years and signifies reduced em...