UK GDP rose 0.3% in May, as expected

Office for National Statistics said that monthly gross domestic product (GDP) growth was 0.3% in May 2019, following negative growth in April 2019. Consistent with the latest Quarterly national accounts, monthly GDP in March 2019 has been revised up by 0.2 percentage points to 0.1% as a result of new survey estimates.

Rolling three-month growth was 0.3% in May 2019, the second consecutive slowing in growth since the 0.5% seen in March 2019 (Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2019), when there was a change in the timing of activity around the originally planned departure date of the UK from the EU. This growth was on par with the moderate growth rates seen at the start of 2019.

Commenting on today’s GDP figures, Head of GDP Rob Kent-Smith said: “GDP grew moderately in the latest three months, with IT, communications and retail showing strength. Despite this, there has been a longer-term slowdown in the often-dominant services sector since summer 2018. The economy returned to growth in the month of May, following the fall seen in April. This was mainly due to the partial recovery in car production.”