Britain on target for financial stagnation official paperwork to indicate

Britain’s economy drifted towards stagnation at the end of last year, official documents are expected to show this week.

Gross domestic product (GDP) figures on Thursday are to reveal growth of 0.2 per cent in November after it shrank 0.1 per cent in October.

Experts said it would leave the economy on course for zero growth for the last quarter of 2025, following expansion of 0.1 per cent in the third quarter.

It comes after a much healthier first half when – as Labour often boasts – it outdid the advanced economies of other G7 members.

Flagging: Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said growth is his number one priority

Keir Starmer has said growth is his number one priority.

Investec economist Philip Shaw argued that a bounce-back for manufacturing would help. The sector has been recovering from a cyber attack on Britain’s largest car-maker Jaguar Land Rover. He also noted retail sales were weak in November but not as bad as October’s, though a five-day doctors’ strike may have had a negative impact.

Robert Wood, at Pantheon Macroeconomics, also forecasts 0.2 per cent GDP growth for November – partly helped by a recovery in hotel and restaurant spending.

That would put growth for the fourth quarter at zero, he said, matching the latest forecast by the Bank of England.