UK economy grows faster than expected with 0.6 per cent expansion

Growth: Phillip Hammond said the UK economy was strong after it grew by 0.6 per cent, figures showed today
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Jamie Bullen27 July 2016

The UK economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the last three months, official figures revealed today.

The Office for National Statistics results show GDP has expanded faster than expected and proves the economy was in a healthy position heading into last month’s Brexit vote.

The three month period, known as the second quarter, ended one week after the EU referendum vote.

The figure is an increase from the 0.4 per cent growth recorded from January to March.

Chancellor Philip Hammond said: "Today's GDP figures show that the fundamentals of the British economy are strong.

"In the second quarter of this year our economy grew by 0.6% - faster than was expected. Indeed, we saw the strongest quarterly rise in production for nearly 20 years, so it is clear we enter our negotiations to leave the EU from a position of economic strength.

"Those negotiations will signal the beginning of a period of adjustment, but I am confident we have the tools to manage the challenges ahead, and, along with the Bank of England, this Government will take whatever action is necessary to support our economy and maintain business and consumer confidence."

The upward impact on growth was driven by a strong performance from industrial production, which grew by 2.1 per cent compared with a fall of 0.2 per cent in the quarter before and matched figures last seen in the third quarter of 1999.

Britain's dominant services sector grew by 0.5 per cent over the period, but this was offset by falls in construction and agriculture, which fell 0.4 per cent and 1 per cent respectively.

It comes as the index for the services sector, which accounts for more than 78 per cent of the UK economy, showed that output slipped by 0.1 per cent between April and May, down from a 0.6 per cent rise the month before.

Before the result was revealed, experts said it will show whether the economy headed into the vote from a position of strength amid fears a Leave vote could spark market chaos.

Additional reporting by PA

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in