UK economy grows 0.1% in August as services stall
The annual rate of 2.1% was last higher in August 2022, the ONS said.
The UK economy grew by 0.1% in August, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has estimated, as production output rose by 0.8% while services showed no growth.
Over the three months to August, gross domestic product (GDP) was 0.7% higher than in the three months to May. It is the eighth consecutive three-month rise, following growth of 0.5% in both the three months to July and the three months to June.
Over the three months to August, GDP was 1.8% higher than a year earlier, the ONS said; that was last higher in the three months to October 2022, when it reached 2.0%.
Manufacturing (up 1.2%) and mining and quarrying (up 1.4%) drove the rise in production. Within manufacturing, the largest positive contribution came from a 5.1% increase in the manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations.
Services output was flat in August after rises of 0.5% in both June and July, both revised up from 0.4%. Only four of the 14 services subsectors grew, with wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles up 2.0%.
Services were the biggest driver of the three-month growth. Output grew by 0.9% over the three months to August, the ONS said, and was the only positive contributor to GDP growth. Production fell by 0.2% and construction by 1.0% over the same period.
Sports activities and amusement and recreation activities fell by 7.1% in August, the largest drag on consumer-facing services, which shrank by 0.3% overall. Food and beverage service activities were the second largest negative contributor, down 2.7%. Over the three months to August, consumer-facing services output still grew by 0.4%.
Construction output, measured for Great Britain, fell by 0.2% in the month, the fourth consecutive monthly decrease, with private housing new work down 1.9%.
The ONS said recent energy price increases have been sustained, with wholesale electricity and gas prices remaining more than double their levels from a year earlier. In late September, nearly three-quarters of businesses (73%) reported some degree of concern about fuel price increases.
Retail footfall in September was slightly lower than a year earlier, the ONS said, after decreasing on the month in line with usual seasonal patterns. It noted that early GDP estimates are subject to revision in both directions.
The ONS will publish retail sales figures for Great Britain for September on 23 October 2026, a revisions analysis on 30 October 2026 and its next monthly GDP estimate on 12 November 2026.
