| Consensus | Consensus Range | Actual | Previous | Revised | |
| Month over Month | 0.15% | 0.1% to 0.2% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| 3-Months over 3-Months | 0.5% | 0.2% | 0.3% |
Highlights
The February 2026 GDP monthly GDP growth accelerated to 0.5 percent, up from a revised 0.1 percent in January and 0.35 percent above the consensus forecast for the month, signalling a short-term strengthening in economic activity.
The expansion is notably well-distributed across sectors. Services and production both grew by 0.5 percent, indicating steady demand and improving industrial conditions, while construction rebounded by 1.0 percent on the month. However, this monthly improvement masks deeper structural weakness.
On a three-month basis, GDP growth of 0.5 percent reflects a gradual recovery trajectory, supported primarily by services (0.5 percent) and production (1.2 percent). The latter, though still strong, shows some deceleration from previous periods, suggesting waning industrial momentum. Construction remains the key drag, contracting by 2.0 percent over the quarter, continuing a sustained downturn. This persistent weakness points to fragility in investment and housing activity, which could constrain medium-term growth.
In essence, the latest report suggests an economy in measured recovery mode, with stabilising demand and production, but constrained by structural weaknesses in construction and only moderate underlying growth dynamics. The latest update takes the RPI to 11 and the RPI-P to 13, meaning that economic activities are now outperforming market expectations in the UK.
Market Consensus Before Announcement
The consensus looks for very modest growth at 0.15 percent on the month.
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.