Data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the economy stagnated in April, as expected, after expanding by 0.4% m/m in March. Looking over the longer term, GDP is estimated to have grown by 0.4% in the three months to April compared with the three months to April 2023.
Services output grew by 0.2% m/m in April, with 9 of the 14 subsectors showing a rise in output. The largest positive contribution at the subsector level in services came from information and communication, which rose by 2.3% in the month. The largest negative contribution to services growth came from wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, down 2.0%, following growth of 0.9% in March. Output in consumer-facing services fell by 0.7% in April, following growth of 0.7% in March. The main driver to this fall was a fall of 2.3% in retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles. This was followed by a 1.2% fall in food and beverage service activities. The main offsetting positive movement came from other personal service activities, which grew by 3.0% in April. Production output is estimated to have fallen by 0.9% in April, following growth of 0.2% in March 2024. Economists had expected production to fall by 0.1%. This was driven by a fall of 1.4% in manufacturing, which was partially offset by growth in water supply; sewage, waste management and remediation activities (1.3%), mining and quarrying (0.8%), and electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (0.5%).
Meanwhile, from March to April, real GDP grew by 0.7% compared to the previous three-month period (through January). Services output was the main contributor with a growth of 0.9% in this period, while production output rose by 0.7% and construction fell by 2.2%.
In annual terms, GDP grew by 0.6% in April, as expected, after an increase of 0.7% in March.