Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. The UK economy grew faster than first estimated in the second quarter of the year, despite the disruption caused by the Iran war. UK growth in April-June has been revised to 0.5%, up from the previous estimate of 0.4%, in the latest National Accounts.
That’s a welcome piece of good news for chancellor John Healey, as he draws up the budget due in four weeks’ time, and means his predecessor Rachel Reeves handed over a slightly larger economy than previously recognised. Growth in Q2 2026 was driven by the services sector (where activity increased by 0.6%) and the construction sector (which grew by 0.8%), while the production sector shrank by 0.1%. However…the Office for National Statistics, which publishes the data, has also revised down its estimate for growth in 2025.
ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: “Today’s figures include our annual improvements to the measurement of the economy, incorporating new information that provides a better picture of activity across the UK’s service sector, alongside the usual inclusion of updated and improved data sources.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
