UK economy grew faster than thought in second quarter, cementing G7 lead

By Suban Abdulla and Andy Bruce

LONDON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Britain's economy grew more quickly than previously thought in the second quarter, consolidating its position as the fastest-growing Group of Seven economy in the first half of 2026 before finance minister John Healey's first budget in October.

Economic output expanded by 0.5% in the April-to-June period, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday.

The reading was slightly stronger than a preliminary estimate for 0.4% growth in gross domestic product. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the 0.4% rise to be confirmed.

Wednesday's data showed that Britain's gross domestic product in the second quarter was 1.4% higher than a year ago — revised up from an initial 1.2% estimate.

The figures underlined how Britain's economy has shown surprising resilience in the face of geopolitical upheaval and a global bond market crisis, with consumer confidence data riding high.

The data pointed to strength across the economy, with output rising in the manufacturing, construction and dominant services sectors.

The ONS also revised up second-quarter business investment growth to an annual rate of 5.2% from an initial estimate of 0.8%.

BOOST FOR GOVERNMENT

GDP per head grew by 1.1% over the first half of 2026. Excluding the swings caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, that is the largest increase since late 2017.

The figures are a boost for Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government as it seeks to spur growth. Burnham, speaking at the Labour Party's annual conference on Tuesday, said his plan to increase public control of key services could help bolster the economy.

Britain's economy was the fastest growing in the G7 despite higher energy prices caused by the Iran war and borrowing costs.

"The upward revision to real GDP growth in Q2 … suggests that the economy has been a bit more resilient to higher energy prices in the first half of the year than previously thought," said Ashley Webb, senior UK economist at Capital Economics.

"This resilience may continue into Q3, but we still expect it to fade in Q4 as higher inflation takes a bigger bite out of households' real incomes."

BUDGET COULD TEST RESILIENCE

Real household disposable income per head rose by 1.0% in quarterly terms during the three months to June, the biggest jump since the end of 2024. That followed a 0.8% drop in the first quarter.

The household savings ratio — sometimes viewed as a gauge of consumer worries about the future — edged up to 8.8% in the second quarter from a downwardly revised 8.6% in the first quarter.

However, Thomas Pugh, chief economist at RSM UK, said the coming months could be hard for households, hurting growth.

"The next six months looks tougher with potential interest rate rises, a sharp increase in inflation and another tax-raising budget all to come. That will drag heavily on growth over the winter," Pugh said.

The Bank of England held interest rates at 3.75% in September and investors are pricing in a quarter-point increase in November for the first time since the Iran war started. Another move is priced in for February.

Separate balance-of-payments data from the ONS showed Britain ran a smaller current account deficit than economists had expected in the second quarter, at £19.9 billion ($26.4 billion) versus a consensus of £24.7 billion.

Excluding precious metals trade, the deficit closed to 1.4% of economic output, the smallest such reading in five years and helped by strong growth in services exports.

Still, many economists expect Healey will have to raise taxes by billions of pounds in the budget on October 28 to meet his deficit reduction goals.

"The bigger picture is that the current account will remain under pressure as higher-for-longer energy prices keep imports elevated," Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said.

($1 = 0.7547 pounds)

(Reporting by Suban Abdulla and Andy Bruce; Editing by Kate Holton, Aidan Lewis)