United Kingdom: Economic activity posts quickest growth since June 2021 in January
GDP grew 0.8% in month-on-month seasonally-adjusted terms in January, which contrasted December’s 0.2% decrease. January’s figure marked the best result since June 2021, and came on the back of upturns in the services and manufacturing sectors.
On a rolling quarterly basis, GDP rose 1.1% in November last year to January, which was better than October–December’s 1.0% expansion.
The solid performance likely continued in February and March due to looser Covid-19 restrictions. However, the war in Ukraine is likely to cause momentum to slow further ahead due to the ensuing large shock to commodity prices.
As Kallum Pickering, senior economist at Berenberg, commented:
“We expect Putin’s war to badly hurt UK economic performance during Q2 and through the early part of Q3 before healthy consumer and business fundamentals reassert themselves and lift momentum through H2 2022.”