The UK economy grew by 0.7 per cent in the three months to May 2026, marking a sixth consecutive rolling three-month expansion, supported by services and manufacturing.
Monthly GDP edged up 0.1 per cent in May as services offset declines in production.
Compared with a year earlier, GDP rose 1.1 per cent over the three-month period and 1.3 per cent in May.
Compared with the same three-month period a year earlier, real GDP increased by 1.1 per cent. Over the same period, services output grew by 1.5 per cent and production output rose by 0.3 per cent. Compared with May 2025, GDP was 1.3 per cent higher.
Within the production sector, output increased by 0.1 per cent in the three months to May, driven entirely by a 1.6 per cent rise in manufacturing. The gain was partly offset by declines of 4.3 per cent in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, 1.9 per cent in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities, and 1.5 per cent in mining and quarrying.
On a monthly basis, production output fell by 0.5 per cent in May, reflecting declines of 4.6 per cent in mining and quarrying, 2.4 per cent in water supply and waste management activities, and 0.1 per cent in electricity and gas supply. Manufacturing was the only production subsector to record monthly growth, rising by 0.1 per cent.
The latest growth followed revised growth of 0.8 per cent in the three months to April 2026 and 0.6 per cent in the three months to March.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (JP)
