UK economic growth slows between April and June

The UK economy's growth slowed between April and June, according to official figures, as US president Donald Trump's tariffs hit and businesses grappled with higher costs.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed growth in gross domestic product (GDP) slowed to 0.3% in the three months to the end of June, down from a rate of 0.7% in the first quarter.

Economists polled by Reuters, as well as the Bank of England, had forecast 0.1% growth in GDP for the April-June period.

ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: “Growth slowed in the second quarter after a strong start to the year. The economy was weak across April and May, with some activity having been brought forward to February and March ahead of stamp duty and tariff changes, but then recovered strongly in June.

“Across the second quarter as a whole growth was led by services, with computer programming, health and vehicle leasing growing. Construction also increased while production fell back slightly. Growth for the quarter was also boosted by updated source data for April, which while still showing a contraction, was better than initially estimated.

“Services also drove growth in June with scientific R&D, engineering and car sales all having a strong month. Within production, which recovered, manufacture of electronics performed especially well.”

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