The UK economy grew at an annualised rate of 0.7% in the second quarter, below forecasts, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Monday.
The UK economy contracted by 0.2 per cent in the final quarter of 2023 and posted a small 0.3 per cent growth in the first quarter of 2024.
Last month, the ONS predicted the economy would grow by 0.9 per cent in the second quarter. UK GDP also grew by 0.5 per cent in the April-June quarter, revising down the forecast from the previous estimate of 0.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth.
The ONS has also revised the data for 2023. It now reports that the British economy grew by 0.3 per cent last year, having previously said growth of 0.1 per cent.
Meanwhile, German import prices rose slightly in August, up 0.2 per cent from a year earlier, the country’s statistics office said on Monday.
According to Destatis, higher prices for consumer goods had the biggest impact on import prices this month, followed by durable and nondurable goods. Energy import prices fell 5.4 per cent from August 2023.
Export prices, meanwhile, were 0.8 per cent higher than in August 2023, Destatis said, with intermediate goods prices having the biggest impact.
Consumer prices in Germany, harmonised to EU standards, rose 2% year-on-year in August 2024 after rising 2.6% a month earlier.
