Key facts
- The ONS said services output rose 0.9% in the third quarter while production grew 0.1%.
- Construction dragged on growth; new project work has fallen more than 7% from mid-2025, the Guardian reported.
- Chancellor John Healey said the UK was showing "standout resilience", per the Guardian.
- Deutsche Bank's Sanjay Raja said GDP is up 1.8% so far in 2026, per the Guardian.
The UK economy grew 0.7% in the third quarter of 2026, the Office for National Statistics said on November 12, matching economists' expectations and matching the fastest quarterly rate since the first three months of 2024, when GDP also rose 0.7%, the Guardian reported.
The ONS said growth was almost entirely due to services, which rose 0.9%, led by the information and communication sector, up 2.1% on increases in computer programming, consultancy and related activities. Production grew 0.1%, while construction dragged on the total; new project work has fallen more than 7% from mid-2025 and private housebuilding is down 30% from its 2022 high, the Guardian reported.
The ONS also said the economy grew 0.2% in September, beating forecasts of zero growth, and revised August growth down from 0.1% to zero. Chancellor John Healey said the UK was showing "standout resilience", according to the Guardian. Deutsche Bank's Sanjay Raja said GDP is up 1.8% so far in 2026 and that the UK has ceded its title as the fastest-growing G7 economy to the US "but only just".
AJ Bell's Sarah Coles said AI continued to do "a significant portion of the heavy lifting", and ING's James Smith said "IT is very clearly a datacentre story", per the Guardian. The Office for Budget Responsibility said at the end of October budget that it expected the economy to expand 1.2% in 2026, the Guardian reported.