New ONS data showed that UK GDP growth for the fourth quarter remained at the painfully slow rate of just 0.1%, matching the third quarter.
Growth of 0.1% during the period was weaker than the 0.2% economists expected.
Slow growth won’t come as a surprise after the economy almost ground to a halt as businesses and consumers fretted about the budget’s outcome and reacted to a raft of new measures.
The services industry was flat during the period, while construction output fell 2.1%. Household and government spending helped steady the ship, with fractional growth.
“The UK economy ended 2025 firmly in the slow lane, undershooting expectations and remaining in a low gear in the final quarter of the year as businesses and consumers digested the Chancellor’s November Budget,” said Scott Gardner, investment strategist at J.P. Morgan Personal Investing.
“This marks a clear reversal in fortunes for the economy after strong growth shown in the first half of the year failed to carry over into the rest of 2025.”
The ONS estimates that the UK economy grew 1.3% in 2025 after posting growth of 1.1% in 2024.