7.53am BST
Rachel Reeves: stronger-than-expected GDP is ‘positive’ but ‘more to do’
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has welcomed the stronger-than-expected GDP growth figures.
However, it is not a resounding celebration, perhaps given all of the uncertainty in the global economy.
She said:
Today’s economic figures are positive with a strong start to the year and continued growth in the second quarter. But there is more to do to deliver an economy that works for working people.
I know that the British economy has the key ingredients for success but has felt stuck for too long.
That is why we’re investing to rebuild our national infrastructure, cutting back on red tape to get Britain building again and boosting the national minimum wage to make work pay. There’s more to do and today’s figures only fuel my ambition to deliver on our plan for change.
7.47am BST
UK GDP grew by 0.3% in second quarter thanks to surprise June acceleration
Good morning, and welcome to our live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets.
The UK economy grew by 0.4% month-on-month in June according to new data that helped the second quarter to end with better-than-expected output.
British output rose by 0.3% in the second quarter of 2025, the Office for National Statistics said. That was higher than the 0.1% expected by economists polled by Reuters.
The faster-than-expected growth was down to better performance from the services and construction sectors, which grew at 0.4% and 1.2% respectively in the quarter – although production output (which includes manufacturing) fell.
Real GDP per head is estimated to have grown by 0.2% in the latest quarter and is up 0.7% compared with the same quarter a year ago.
Nevertheless, it was still a slowdown compared to the first quarter, when the UK economy grew by 0.7%. Economists expected slower growth because of Donald Trump’s trade war, which caused chaos in the second quarter after his “liberation day” announcement on 2 April.
It is also unclear whether the help from the construction sector can be sustained, given more recent purchasing managers’ index data for July showing a steep drop in UK housebuilding.
We’ll have all the reaction to the GDP figures this morning.
The agenda
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10am BST: Eurozone GDP growth rate second estimate (second quarter; previous: 0.6% quarter-on-quarter; consensus: 0.1%)
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10am BST: Eurozone industrial production (June; previous: 1.7% month-on-month; consensus: -1%)
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1pm BST: US producer price inflation (July; previous: 0%; consensus: 0.2%)
Updated at 7.55am BST
