UK GDP ticks higher in second quarter - ONS

(Sharecast News) - British economic growth ticked higher in the second quarter, official data confirmed on Monday, in line with expectations. According to the Office for National Statistics, GDP was estimated to have grown by 0.3% in the three months to June, following an unrevised 0.7% uplift in the first quarter.

Within that, the dominant services sector rose by 0.4% and construction by 1%, helping to offset ongoing weakness in the manufacturing sector.

Production softened 0.8%.

Year-on-year, GDP rose by 1.4%, marginally ahead of forecasts for a 1.2% increase.

Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: "In the latest quarter, we saw an increase in the household saving ratio, very little growth in consumer spending and a slight fall in output for consumer-facing services, despite growth in services overall."

McKeown also addressed recent changes to the methodologies used by the ONS.

She said: "Today's figures include a suit of improvements to our measurement of the economy, including better information on research and development and the activities of complex multinational companies, alongside the usual inclusion of updated and improved data sources.

"Growth for 2024 as a whole was unrevised, though these new figures show the economy grew a little less strongly at the start of the year than our initial estimates suggested, but performed better in the later quarters."

The ONS has come under sustained criticism in recent months after issues in its data gathering emerged, weighing on the veracity of a number of its statistical bulletins.