GDP Q1 2019 final estimate

03 July 2019

GDP rose by 0.5% in Q1 2019 from the previous quarter, unrevised from the previous estimate. This followed a 0.2% rise in Q4 2018.

Compared with the same quarter a year ago, the UK economy grew by 1.8%, improving on the 1.4% rise in the previous quarter.

GDP was estimated to have increased 1.4% in 2018 compared with 1.8% in 2017. This is the weakest rate since 2012.

In Q1 2019, the GDP deflator increased by an unrevised 1.6%, continuing the easing that has been seen in recent quarters.

Services output grew 0.4%, in Q1 2019, a 0.1 percentage point upwards revision from the previous estimate but a slowdown on the rise in Q4 2018. Q1’s increase was driven by a 1.2% rise in wholesale retail and motor trade.

Production output is estimated to have increased 1.1% in Q1 2019, revised down from the previous estimate of 1.4%. This was a result of new data being made available for the manufacturing, mining and quarrying industries. An upwards revision to manufacturing output meant it is now growing at its strongest rate since Q3 1999. This, in part, is a result of stockpiling in the lead up to the original Brexit date.

GDP seasonally adjusted (£bn) and quarter-on-quarter growth

Source: ONS