UK’s economy growing at the slowest rate in a decade

Nov 18, 2019
Stephen is one of the firm’s tax partners. He specialises in income tax, capital gains tax, corporation tax, inheritance tax, and stamp duty land tax. He also specialises in advising property and construction businesses.
UK economy

According to the most recent data by the Office of National Statistics the economy is growing at its slowest rate in almost a decade. In the third quarter Britain’s economy grew by just 0.3% after a dramatic shrink in the second quarter. This means that annual growth is down to just 1%, but because the UK’s economy grew in the third quarter, we managed to avoid a recession. The main reason why we avoided a technical recession is because the economy had shrunk in the second quarter and two quarters of contraction are defined as causing a recession.

Even though the economy grew by 0.3% during the third quarter it was not as high as the 0.4% forecast by economists. A statistician from the Office of National Statistics commented on the latest figures: “GDP grew steadily in the third quarter, mainly thanks to a strong July.

“Services again led the way with construction also performing well. Manufacturing failed to grow as falls in many industries were offset by car production bouncing back following April shutdowns.”

“Looking at the picture over the last year, growth slowed to its lowest rate in almost a decade. The underlying trade deficit narrowed, mainly due to growing exports of both goods and services.”

The third quarter’s economy was driven by July as growth increased by 0.3% just in that month, in September the Office of National Statistics showed that the economy growth shrunk by 0.1%.

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Stephen Charles

Stephen Charles

Tax Partner, Sheffield

sac@hawsons.co.uk