UK GDP grows 0.4% in July 2026

UK gross domestic product grew 0.4% month-on-month in July 2026, marking a slight pick-up from the 0.3% increase recorded in June 2026. The data indicate that overall economic activity expanded at a faster pace at the start of the second half of the year.

The July gain reflects positive contributions from all three main sectors of the economy on a monthly basis. Services, production and construction each recorded growth, though the pattern of expansion was uneven across sectors and over the broader three-month period to July.

Services output increased 0.4% in July 2026, matching the overall GDP growth rate and acting as the principal driver of the monthly expansion. This underlines the central role of services in the UK economy’s short-term performance.

Over the three months to July 2026, services output rose 0.6%. This three-month increase in services contrasted with declines in the production and construction sectors, highlighting services as the main source of sustained growth during that period.

Within services, computer programming and consultancy recorded a 3.5% month-on-month rise in July 2026. This rapid increase made an estimated 0.12 percentage-point contribution to the overall 0.4% monthly GDP growth rate.

Statisticians noted that many firms reporting the strongest turnover in this category were involved in activities such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing. However, they also underlined that the precise contribution of these specific technologies to GDP growth could not be separately quantified.

Production output increased 0.2% on the month in July 2026, adding a smaller but positive contribution to overall GDP. Construction output edged up 0.1% over the same period, providing an additional, though limited, boost to activity.

Looking at the three months to July 2026, headline GDP still rose 0.4%, but the sectoral mix differed from the monthly snapshot. During this three-month window, production and construction each fell 0.5%, even as services advanced, indicating that growth was increasingly concentrated in the services side of the economy.

The 0.4% GDP increase over the three months to July 2026 reflects the net effect of a robust services sector and weaker production and construction. Services’ 0.6% rise over the period was sufficient to offset the 0.5% declines in both other sectors.

Taken together, the July monthly data and the three-month figures point to an economy that is expanding but with growth increasingly reliant on services, particularly technology-oriented activities. The divergence between services and the more subdued performance in production and construction shapes the current profile of UK economic growth.