| Consensus | Consensus Range | Actual | Previous | Revised | |
| Month over Month | 0.1% | 0.1% to 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| 3-Months over 3-Months | 0.1% | 0.1% | -0.1% |
Highlights
December 2025 closed the year with fragile forward movement. Monthly GDP edged up 0.1 percent, extending November's softer 0.2 percent rise and offsetting October's 0.1 percent contraction. Growth, however, was narrowly supported. Services expanded by 0.3 percent, acting as the sole engine of momentum, while production fell sharply by 0.9 percent and construction declined by 0.5 percent. The economy advanced, but unevenly.
The broader three-month picture reinforces this caution. Real GDP grew by just 0.1 percent in the quarter to December, marking a modest rebound from consecutive three-month declines. Yet the composition shifted. Services output stagnated for a second consecutive rolling quarter, signalling fading demand in the UK's dominant sector. In contrast, production rose 1.2 percent, recovering from earlier weakness and suggesting some stabilisation in industrial activity.
Construction remains the clearest pressure point. Output dropped 2.1 percent over the quarter, extending a sustained slowdown since May and marking the weakest three-month performance since September 2021.
In summary, the latest updates indicate an economy stabilising rather than accelerating growth persists, but it is shallow, sectorally imbalanced, and increasingly reliant on narrow sources of support. These updates take the RPI to 26 and the RPI-P to 22, meaning that economic activities are outperforming market expectations in the UK.
Market Consensus Before Announcement
The consensus sees growth at 0.1 percent on the month for December versus 0.3 percent in November.
Definition
Gross domestic product (GDP) is the broadest measure of aggregate economic activity and encompasses every sector of the economy. The monthly report is based on output data only as the income and expenditure series are not available.
Description
GDP covers all aspects of economic activity. Investors need to closely track the economy because it usually dictates how investments will perform. Stock market investors like to see healthy economic growth because robust business activity translates to higher corporate profits. GDP contains a treasure-trove of information which not only paints an image of the overall economy, but tells investors about important trends within the big picture. However, the monthly report is quite limited and only provides data on the main output sectors. More detailed information is available in the quarterly reports.