UK economy grows 0.1% in third quarter, missing forecasts

UK economy grows 0.1% in third quarter, missing forecasts

Growth driven by services and construction as production sector contracts

The British economy expanded 0.1% in the third quarter of the year, falling short of market expectations, according to official data released Thursday.

Markets had forecast 0.2% growth for the July-September period. The modest expansion followed a 0.3% rise in the previous quarter.

On an annual basis, gross domestic product (GDP) grew 1.1% in the third quarter, also below estimates, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported.

The ONS said growth was supported by a 0.2% increase in services output and a 0.1% rise in construction, while the production sector declined 0.5%.

In September alone, GDP contracted 0.1% month-on-month but rose 1.1% from a year earlier.

“Most notably, production output fell by 2.0% in September 2025, mainly because of a 28.6% decline in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, which detracted 0.17 percentage points from monthly GDP,” the ONS said.