Growth from July to September was revised down from 0.1 per cent to zero by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), pushing Britain to the brink of a recession.
With the economy at risk of contracting in the final three months of 2024, according to the Bank of England, it means the country is close to experiencing the first of two consecutive quarters of negative growth that define a technical recession.
How does the UK compare to the rest of the G7?
The UK was the joint-slowest member of the G7 in the third quarter of the year, with no growth in July to September.
Here are the latest growth estimates from other leading advanced economies for comparison:
US: grew by nearly 0.8 per cent. France: grew by 0.4 per cent. Japan: grew by 0.3 per cent. Canada: grew by 0.3 per cent. Germany: grew by 0.1 per cent. Italy: stagnated.Mr Jessop said that the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)’s latest growth indicator adds evidence that the UK is sliding back into recession and may already be in one in terms of GDP per head.
Paul Dales, the chief UK economist at the consultancy Capital Economics, said the downward headline revision appeared to be mainly due to external influences such as a bigger fall in exports and investment in dwellings than originally estimated. Consumer spending and business investment was revised up.
“Our hunch is that 2025 will be a better year for the economy than 2024. But more recent data suggest the economy doesn’t have much momentum as the year comes to a close.”
Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: “The household saving ration fell a little in the latest period, though remains relatively high by historic standards.
square PENSIONS AND RETIREMENT Money ClinicIs there any hope left for Waspi women?
Read More
The Bank last week warned UK growth would stagnate in the final three months of the year.
Labour has faced a challenging start in Government, coming under lots of scrutiny over its downbeat assessment of the economy after blaming the Conservative party for leaving them with a £22bn fiscal black hole to fill.
Does today’s figure change come as a surprise?
Earlier this year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) predicted that the UK will be the worst-performing economy in the G7 next year.
It also downgraded its forecast for UK growth this year to 0.4 per cent from a November forecast of 0.7 per cent.
The US and Canada are forecast to be the fastest growing economies in the G7 next year, both growing 1.8 per cent.
The OECD said Britain’s growth rate would be dampened by persistent price rises in the services sector and shortages of skilled staff that will push back expected cuts in interest rates.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( How the UK’s flatlining economy compares to other G7 countries )
Also on site :