Britain's economy grew by a slower than expected 0.1% in the third quarter of 2024, official figures showed on Friday.
Economists polled by Reuters and the Bank of England had forecast an expansion of 0.2%, slowing from the rapid growth seen over the first half of 2024 when the economy was rebounding from last year's shallow recession.
Last week, the BoE trimmed its annual growth forecast for 2024 to 1% from 1.25% but predicted a stronger 2025, reflecting a short-term boost to the economy from the big-spending budget plans of finance minister Rachel Reeves.
Surging Energy Costs
Britain's economic output has grown slowly since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Only Germany, which was also hit hard by surging energy costs after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has done noticeably worse among the largest advanced economies.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he wanted the economy to reach annual growth of 2.5% when campaigning for the July 4 election - a rate that Britain has not regularly achieved since before the 2008 financial crisis.
Finance minister Rachel Reeves wants Britain to have the fastest per capita growth in gross domestic product among the Group of Seven advanced economies for two consecutive years.
Consumer Spending
Meanwhile, figures published earlier this week showed sales at UK supermarkets slowed in the last four weeks to 2 November 2024 as shoppers scaled back their expenditure ahead of Christmas and Black Friday promotions later in the month, according to NIQ.
Spending per visit on groceries declined 6% compared to last year and stood at £18.67.
Sales for items on promotion increased 25%, with 36% of branded sales coming from promotions - up from 35% a year ago.
The packaged grocery category witnessed subdued growth (up 1.7%) as shoppers cut down expenditure on essentials.
Shoppers reduced their purchase of beer, wine and spirits with a unit sales decline of 0.4%, indicating that shoppers are holding back until close to the festivities.
Additonal reporting by ESM
