Summer weather drives GDP and retail growth

Lewis Catchpole Monday, 10 September 2018, 15:16Last Updated: Monday, 10 September 2018, 15:16

1 minute read

The joint hottest summer ever and the World Cup helped the UK experience both GDP and retail growth.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said GDP increased by 0.6% in the three months to the end of July. Retail trade also saw growth of 2.1%.

The retail trade contributed 0.11 percentage points to growth over the three months to July and wholesale trade contributed 0.06 percentage points. These two industries experienced strong growths in the months of May and July.

Head of GDP Rob Kent-Smith said: “Growth in the economy picked up in the three months to July. Services grew particularly strongly, with retail sales performing well, boosted by warm weather and the World Cup. The construction sector also bounced back after a weak start to the year.

“However, production fell back, with manufacturing again slipping a little while energy generation and supply fell due to reduced demand.The dominant service sector again led economic growth in the month of July with engineers, accountants and lawyers all enjoying a busy period, backed up by growth in construction, which hit another record high level.”