UK economy grew 0.3% in Q2, current account gap widens

Britain’s economy grew 0.3% in the April-to-June period of this year, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday, unrevised from the ONS’ initial estimate and as expected in a Reuters poll of economists.

Britain’s economy was the fastest growing among the Group of Seven large advanced economies in the first half of this year.

But some of that expansion was due to one-off factors – including a rush of exports before U.S. import tariffs took effect – and the Bank of England forecasts growth in 2025 overall will be a modest 1.25%.

Tuesday’s data showed that Britain’s GDP in the second quarter was 1.4% higher than a year ago – revised up from an initial 1.2% estimate – while on a per capita basis, output in the second quarter was 0.9% higher than the year before.

Overall 2024 GDP growth was unrevised at 1.1%.

Britain’s current account deficit in the three months to the end of June totalled 28.939 billion pounds ($38.8 billion), well above a poll forecast of 24.9 billion pounds and equivalent to 3.8% of GDP, up from 2.8% in the first quarter of 2025.