LONDON, United Kingdom — The United Kingdom‘s gross domestic product increased by 0.4 percent between April and June 2026, slowing from a 0.6 percent expansion recorded in the first quarter of the year.
Golden Info reports that the Office for National Statistics released the economic data on Thursday, reporting that output remained robust despite domestic political shifts and the economic fallout from the United States–Iran war. The ONS recorded the quarter’s strongest monthly growth as a 0.3 percent expansion in June, which followed zero growth in May and a contraction in April.
Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said services drove the expansion. “Growth (overall) slowed in the second quarter of the year, following a strong start to 2026, but remained relatively robust,” McKeown said. “Services were once again the main driver of growth.”
Output from the services sector grew by 0.5 percent during the quarter, while the construction sector also expanded and production flattened. The ONS reported that the football World Cup increased turnover in June for businesses in alcohol manufacturing, wholesale, food and beverage services, publishing, television production, and advertising.
The economic data follows the resignation of former British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in late June and his replacement by Andy Burnham, as the Labour Party government trailed the Reform UK party in opinion polls. The country is managing elevated inflation and high energy costs linked to the Middle East conflict.
Britain’s Finance Minister John Healey said that the Burnham administration is attempting to ease financial pressures on the public. “I know people are worried about the impact of the conflict in the Middle East on their cost of living, which has been too high for too long and it has added pressure on British businesses,” Healey said.
Stuart Morrison, a research manager at the British Chambers of Commerce, responded to the figures by pointing to long-term challenges. “The headline figures shouldn’t disguise the cocktail of cost pressures choking long-term business growth,” Morrison said, adding that Healey‘s first budget, scheduled for October 28, must contain measures to boost trade and investment.
To address household expenses, the government is scheduled to remove the tax on household electricity bills this winter. Concurrently, the Bank of England has warned that inflation will rise as the Middle East conflict sustains high energy prices.