UK growth was second-fastest in the G7 this spring, after a 2025 in which two quarters recorded none
The ONS now puts April to June 2026 growth at 0.5%, behind only Canada. Revisions in the same release moved 2025 around: the second and fourth quarters came out at 0.0%, so the 2026 pickup follows a stall.
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0.5%
Real GDP growth in April to June 2026, revised up from 0.4%
2nd
Place among the G7 for second-quarter growth, behind Canada's 0.8%
1.2%
Growth in 2025 as a whole, revised down 0.1 points
What the data shows
Two strong quarters follow a flat patch
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that real GDP rose 0.5% in the second quarter of 2026, after 0.6% in the first. The second-quarter figure was revised up from 0.4%, and GDP is now 2.0% above its level in the fourth quarter of 2024.1 Real GDP per head also rose 0.5% in the quarter and is 1.2% higher than a year earlier.1
The same release, which includes the ONS's Blue Book 2026 methodology changes, reshaped 2025. The second quarter was cut from 0.2% to 0.0%, the fourth from 0.1% to 0.0%, and the third raised from 0.1% to 0.2%. Growth for 2025 as a whole is now 1.2%, down 0.1 points.1 Compounding the four published 2025 quarterly rates gives 0.8% growth from the end of 2024 to the end of 2025, a different measure from the 1.2% annual figure, which compares average levels across each year.
Exhibit 01
Two quarters of 2025 now show no growth
Source: ONS, GDP quarterly national accounts, UK: April to June 2026 (September 2026) and the previous estimate (August 2026). Real GDP, quarter on quarter, rounded to one decimal place.1
In context
Ahead of every G7 economy except Canada
On the ONS's G7 comparison, the UK's 0.5% in the second quarter was second to Canada's 0.8%. Japan and the United States grew 0.4%, Germany 0.3% and Italy 0.2%, while France recorded 0.0%.1 Services grew 0.6% in the quarter and construction 0.8%, while production fell 0.1%.1
Exhibit 02
Second-quarter growth across the G7
Source: ONS, GDP quarterly national accounts, UK: April to June 2026, G7 comparison table. Real GDP, quarter on quarter. Other countries' figures are as compiled by the ONS and may be revised by their own statistics agencies.1
Key finding. Household incomes recovered alongside output: real disposable income per head rose 1.0% to £6,577 in the quarter, after a 0.8% fall in the first.1 The household saving ratio edged up to 8.8% from 8.6%.1
What we don't know
Whether the pickup lasts. Quarterly GDP is revised often: this release alone moved four of the six quarters shown, by up to 0.2 points. The ONS monthly GDP estimate for August is due in mid-October and could change the picture again. The bulletin text does not show what drove the 2025 revisions beyond the Blue Book methodology changes and updated source data.1
Caveat. The strongest objection is to the headline's ranking and its precision. Quarterly growth is rounded to one decimal, so "0.0%" means a rate between about −0.05% and 0.05%, not exactly zero, and the gap between the UK's 0.5% and Japan's or the United States' 0.4% is within the size of recent revisions. Countries also measure GDP slightly differently, so the ranking is indicative. What holds up is the broad pattern: weak 2025, firm start to 2026.
Method. Quarterly growth rates, G7 growth, per-head, income and saving figures are transcribed from the ONS quarterly national accounts bulletin for April to June 2026 (published September 2026), retrieved 12 October 2026. Revisions are the latest quarterly rate minus the previous estimate in the bulletin's revisions table, computed in code and matched to the revisions the bulletin states. Compounding the rounded 2025 quarterly rates gives 0.8%; compounding the six quarters since Q4 2024 gives 1.9%, against the published 2.0%, a rounding difference. No projections are used.