Britain’s economy grew slightly by 0.2% in August as country’s service sector leads the way, ONS says

The UK’s economy returned to growth in August – with the country’s service sector leading the way, the Office for National Statistics revealed today.

Gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.2 per cent over the month, in line with what economists had expected.

But the ONS also said it had downgraded July’s dismal performance from a fall of 0.5 per cent to a 0.6 per cent drop, as poor summer weather and interest rate raises saw consumers rein in their spending.

Although it is a welcome return to growth, it is still a touch economic picture for Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who said: ‘The UK has grown faster than France and Germany since the pandemic and today’s data shows the economy is more resilient than expected.

‘While this is a good sign, we still need to tackle inflation so we can unlock sustainable growth.’

ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said: ‘Our initial estimate suggests GDP grew a little in August, led by strong growth in services which was partially offset by falls in manufacturing and construction.

‘Within services, education returned to normal levels, while computer programmers and engineers both had strong months.

‘Across the last three months as a whole the economy has grown modestly, led by car manufacturing and sales, and construction.’

Ben Jones, the CBI’s lead economist, said: ‘Monthly GDP data has been as changeable as the British weather recently, but looking through the volatility it’s clear that growth remains fairly anaemic.’