The Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced that the economy grew by 0.4% in the second quarter of 2018.
This comes after the small increase of 0.2% in 18Q1 as a result of the cold weather from the “Beast of the East” and many people having to use their savings to maintain their standard of living.
This quarter highlights that the British economy grew faster than the Eurozone, which saw growth of 0.3%. Rob Kent-Smith, Head of National Accounts at the ONS stated that “The economy picked up a little in the second quarter, with both retail sales and construction helped by the good weather and rebounding from the effects of the snow earlier in the year.”
Other contributing factors were the world cup celebrations and consumers spending more money in retail during the heatwave.
Additionally, RFi group data shows that there is a slight rise in consumer sentiment for spending, with 7.4% of consumers likely to spend more in the next 12 months in 18H1, in comparison to 6.7% in 17H2.
Increasing consumer sentiment around spending may further contribute to the economic growth witnessed in the last quarter.
Economic Growth
