Labour productivity in the United Kingdom returned to growth in the first quarter of 2026, rising to 0.5% after a contraction at the end of last year. The improvement marks a clear turnaround from the fourth quarter of 2025, when productivity fell by 0.7%.
The shift from negative to positive growth suggests a stabilisation in output per worker at the start of 2026, following the weakness recorded at the end of 2025. While the latest figure indicates only modest momentum, it breaks the previous downward trend in productivity performance.
The updated data, released on 18 August 2026, will be closely watched by market participants and policymakers as a potential sign of improving operational efficiency and capacity utilisation in the UK economy as the year progresses.
