In the first quarter of 2025, the British economy witnessed a 1.3% growth compared to the same period last year. This figure, while slightly lower than the 1.5% growth seen in the fourth quarter of the previous year, surpassed market predictions of 1.3%. According to preliminary estimates, the services sector grew by 1.5%, a decline from the 1.9% seen in the preceding quarter. Construction output maintained its growth rate at 0.9%. On the other hand, industrial production continued its downturn, albeit at a reduced pace, recording a -0.2% change compared to -1.1% earlier.
Examining expenditure, household consumption growth decelerated to 0.7% from 1.2%, and government expenditure growth also slowed to 1.3% from 2.6%. Notably, there was a significant surge in gross fixed capital formation, which climbed by 4.4%, contrasted with the 2.2% increase in the previous quarter. This was largely fueled by an impressive 8.1% boost in business investment, up from the prior 1.8%. Exports experienced a slight decline of 0.3%, showing an improvement from the previous -3.5% decrease, while imports surged by 7.6%, up from a 5.0% rise. On a quarterly scale, the GDP growth reached 0.7%, marking the best performance in three quarters.
