Skip to content
EconToMarks
Menu
Search EconToMarks →
AboutEditorial PolicyPrivacyFeedback

Story · United Kingdom · 30 Sept 2026

UK GDP growth revised up to 0.5% in Q2 2026

UK real GDP grew by 0.5% in Quarter 2 2026, revised up from the first estimate of 0.4%, after growth of 0.6% in Quarter 1.

Economic GrowthTrade
Relevance date 30 Sept 2026, 06:00Updated 1 Oct 2026, 09:11Exam relevance 85/100
The London skyline seen from Waterloo Bridge

Verified sources

Check the original evidence before reading the explanation.

Primary sourceOffice for National Statistics →GDP quarterly national accounts, UK: April to June 2026
How EconToMarks verifies stories →

30-second read

0.5%

Q2 2026 real GDP growth

0.5%

Q2 2026 real GDP per head growth

0.6%

Q1 2026 real GDP growth

Exam link: Economic growth → real output → employment and incomes → living standards

Story toolsReport / correction
Understand the storyExpand

The Office for National Statistics revised UK real GDP growth in Quarter 2 2026 up by 0.1 percentage points to 0.5%. Growth followed a 0.6% increase in Quarter 1. Real GDP per head also increased by 0.5% in Q2, while the level of GDP was 2.0% above Quarter 4 2024. The ONS said expenditure growth was mainly driven by net trade, with export volumes rising 2.8% and import volumes showing no growth over the quarter.

What happened

UK real GDP increased by 0.5% in Quarter 2 2026, compared with the earlier estimate of 0.4%. Services output grew 0.6%, construction grew 0.8% and production fell 0.1%. On the expenditure measure, net trade was the main contributor to growth: export volumes increased 2.8%, while import volumes were unchanged over the quarter.

Why it matters

The upward revision suggests the UK economy expanded slightly faster in Q2 than first thought, although growth still slowed from 0.6% in Q1. The stronger contribution from net trade also shows how exports and imports can materially affect aggregate demand and measured GDP, while revisions illustrate the uncertainty around early national-accounts estimates.

Economic context

For A-Level Economics, this is strong UK evidence for economic growth, aggregate demand, net trade and data revisions. Use the 0.5% quarter-on-quarter figure rather than the older 0.4% first estimate. Real GDP per head also rose 0.5%, which provides an additional indicator of living standards, but a single quarter does not establish a long-run trend.

All key dataExpand
Q1 2026 real GDP growth
0.6%
Q2 2026 real GDP growth
0.5%
Q2 2026 export volume growth
2.8%
Q2 2026 import volume growth
0.0%
Revision from first estimate
+0.1 percentage points
Q2 2026 real GDP per head growth
0.5%
Terms explainedExpand

Real GDP

The value of output after adjusting for inflation, so changes reflect the amount produced rather than just higher prices.

Quarter-on-quarter

A comparison with the immediately previous three-month period, rather than with the same quarter a year earlier.

Use it in an examExpand

Evidence

UK real GDP grew by 0.5% in Quarter 2 2026, revised up from the first estimate of 0.4%, after growth of 0.6% in Quarter 1.

Explain

The upward revision suggests the UK economy expanded slightly faster in Q2 than first thought, although growth still slowed from 0.6% in Q1. The stronger contribution from net trade also shows how exports and imports can materially affect aggregate demand and measured GDP, while revisions illustrate the uncertainty around early national-accounts estimates.

Evaluate

For A-Level Economics, this is strong UK evidence for economic growth, aggregate demand, net trade and data revisions. Use the 0.5% quarter-on-quarter figure rather than the older 0.4% first estimate. Real GDP per head also rose 0.5%, which provides an additional indicator of living standards, but a single quarter does not establish a long-run trend.

Find related examples →

Related coverage