Table of contents
- UK gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.3% in the three months to November 2018
- The services and construction sectors drove GDP growth, although contraction in the production sector contributed negatively
- Rolling three-month growth continued its slowdown after a strong summer
- GDP grew by 0.2% in November 2018
- The services sector grew by 0.3% in the three months to November 2018, driven by professional activities
- The production sector experienced negative growth in the three months to November 2018, as all four of its subsectors contracted
- Rolling three-month growth in construction continued to perform strongly after a summer high
- Quality and methodology
- Related links
1. UK gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.3% in the three months to November 2018
Figure 1: Rolling three-month growth continued to slow after a peak in Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2018
UK GDP growth, Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2017 until September to November 2018
Source: Office for National Statistics, GDP monthly estimate
Notes:
- Q1 refers to Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar), Q2 refers to Quarter 2 (Apr to June), Q3 refers to Quarter 3 (July to Sept), Q4 refers to Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec).
- Rolling three-month data are calculated by comparing GDP in a three-month period with GDP in the previous three-month period, for example, GDP in September to November compared with the previous June to August.
Download this chart Figure 1: Rolling three-month growth continued to slow after a peak in Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2018
Image .csv .xlsCommenting on today’s GDP figures Head of National Accounts Rob Kent-Smith said:
“Growth in the UK economy continued to slow in the three months to November 2018 after performing more strongly through the middle of the year. Accountancy and housebuilding again grew but a number of other areas were sluggish.
“Manufacturing saw a steep decline, with car production and the often-erratic pharmaceutical industry both performing poorly.”
2. The services and construction sectors drove GDP growth, although contraction in the production sector contributed negatively
Figure 2: The services sector was the largest contributor to growth, at 0.24 percentage points
Contribution to GDP growth, September to November 2018
Source: Office for National Statistics, GDP monthly estimate
Download this chart Figure 2: The services sector was the largest contributor to growth, at 0.24 percentage points
Image .csv .xlsRolling three-month growth in the services sector was 0.3%, making the sector the largest contributor to gross domestic product (GDP) growth. The construction sector also had a positive contribution, with rolling three-month growth of 2.1%. However, growth of negative 0.8% in the production sector acted as a drag on GDP growth.
Back to table of contents3. Rolling three-month growth continued its slowdown after a strong summer
Figure 3: Rolling three-month growth increased by 0.3% in November 2018
Growth, three-months on previous three-months, October to December 2017 until September to November 2018
Source: Office for National Statistics, GDP monthly estimate
Notes:
- Rolling three-month data are calculated by comparing GDP in a three-month period with GDP in the previous three-month period, for example, GDP in September to November compared with the previous June to August.
Download this chart Figure 3: Rolling three-month growth increased by 0.3% in November 2018
Image .csv .xlsRolling three-month growth is based on output gross value added (GVA) and therefore there will be discrepancies in the time series with our quarterly estimates of gross domestic product (GDP), which include information on the expenditure and income approaches to measuring GDP.
Back to table of contents4. GDP grew by 0.2% in November 2018
| Sep-2018 | Oct-2018 | Nov-2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GDP | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Index of Services | -0.1% | 0.2% | 0.3% |
| Index of Production | -0.5% | -0.5% | -0.4% |
| Manufacturing | -0.1% | -0.6% | -0.3% |
| Construction | 1.9% | 0.0% | 0.6% |
| Agriculture | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
Download this table Table 1: Breakdown of GDP growth rates by month
.xls .csvMonthly gross domestic product (GDP) growth was 0.2% in November 2018, following flat growth in September 2018 and growth of 0.1% in October 2018.
The monthly growth rate for GDP is volatile and therefore it should be used with caution and alongside other measures such as the three-month growth rate when looking for an indicator of the longer-term trend of the economy. However, it is useful in highlighting one-off changes that can be masked by three-month growth rates.
Back to table of contents5. The services sector grew by 0.3% in the three months to November 2018, driven by professional activities
Figure 4: Output in the professional industries and information and communication industries has risen steadily since 2016
Rolling three-month index, October to December 2015 until September to November 2018, base year 2016
Source: Office for National Statistics, GDP monthly estimate
Download this chart Figure 4: Output in the professional industries and information and communication industries has risen steadily since 2016
Image .csv .xlsMonthly growth in the services sector was 0.3% in November 2018. The main driver to growth was retail sales, which saw a boost from Black Friday promotions. This was partially offset by a slight contraction in legal activities and accounting.
The services sector rolling three-month growth to November 2018 was 0.3%. Professional and scientific activities was the largest contributor, with a contribution of 0.14 percentage points to gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Other notable contributors were information and communication, and human health activities. As seen in Figure 4, the professional and scientific industry and the information and communication industry have performed well since 2016, with growth over this period outstripping services as a whole.
Back to table of contents6. The production sector experienced negative growth in the three months to November 2018, as all four of its subsectors contracted
Figure 5: Widespread contraction in production industries resulted in negative contributions to GDP across the sector
Contribution to GDP growth, three-months on previous three-months, October to December 2017 until September to November 2018
Source: Office for National Statistics, GDP monthly estimate
Notes:
- Rolling three-month data are calculated by comparing GDP in a three-month period with GDP in the previous three-month period, for example, GDP in September to November compared with the previous June to August.
Download this chart Figure 5: Widespread contraction in production industries resulted in negative contributions to GDP across the sector
Image .csv .xlsMonth-on-month growth in the production industries was negative 0.4%. This was driven by weakness in manufacturing, and mining and quarrying, the latter due to unplanned maintenance.
Rolling three-month growth in production was negative 0.8%. As shown in Figure 5, all four main production sub-sectors experienced negative growth; the last time this happened was in October 2012. Maintenance across several months resulted in growth of negative 1.1% in mining and quarrying. Within manufacturing 10 out of 13 sub-industries contracted, driving the negative 0.8% growth in manufacturing.
Back to table of contents7. Rolling three-month growth in construction continued to perform strongly after a summer high
Figure 6: Construction growth remained strong at 2.1%
Growth, three-months on previous three-months, October to December 2017 until September to November 2018
Source: Office for National Statistics, GDP monthly estimate
Notes:
- Rolling three-month data are calculated by comparing GDP in a three-month period with GDP in the previous three-month period, for example, GDP in September to November compared with the previous June to August.
Download this chart Figure 6: Construction growth remained strong at 2.1%
Image .csv .xlsThe construction sector had month-on-month growth of 0.6% in November 2018.
Rolling three-month growth for construction was 2.1% in November 2018, driven by new work in housebuilding and infrastructure.
The construction sector experienced high growth in the summer months, due partly to a bounce back from weakness in the spring. However, as illustrated in Figure 6, growth has remained at these high levels.
Back to table of contents8. Quality and methodology
The Gross domestic product (GDP) Quality and Methodology Information report contains important information on:
- the strengths and limitations of the data and how it compares with related data
- uses and users of the data
- how the output was created
- the quality of the output including the accuracy of the data