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UK economy shrank by 0.1% in April

ended 12. June 2026

In the month to April 2026: Monthly GDP contracted by 0.1% in April 2026, following growths of 0.3% in March 2026 and 0.4% in February 2026, the ONS data released today shows.

This fall was driven by a 0.2% fall in services, which was partially offset by a 0.1% rise in construction; production showed no growth.

In the three months to April 2026, compared with the three months to January 2026: GDP grew by 0.7%, following a growth of 0.6% in the three months to March 2026 and a growth of 0.5% in the three months to February 2026.

Services output grew by 0.8%, after also growing by 0.8% in the three months to March 2026.

Production output contracted by 0.1%; this follows a growth of 0.2% in the three months to March 2026.

Construction output grew by 1.6%, following a 0.4% growth in the three months to March 2026; this continues a partial recovery following five consecutive three-monthly falls from October 2025 to February 2026.

  • What is your reaction to the negative growth in April?
  • What do you think is causing it?
  • Are you worried? What are the solutions?

Responses asap.

6 responses from the Newspage community

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Riz Malik
Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth
A cabinet who have no real life business experience will struggle to stimulate and economy on its knees. Factor in a President across the pond whose flip flopping is causing serious economic implications domestically and you have the perfect recipe for a lame duck economy as evidenced.
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Samuel Mather-Holgate
Managing Director & IFA at Mather and Murray Financial
April’s GDP figures are the sort of economic weather forecast where the drizzle can quickly turn into a storm. The economy is barely growing, services have gone soft, and the risk now is that inflation comes back before growth has properly returned. That is the nightmare mix- households squeezed, firms cautious, prices sticky and confidence shrinking. It is not quite stagflation yet, but the ingredients are worryingly close to the hob. Ministers cannot spin their way out of this one. The numbers are doing the talking. The UK needs a pro-growth reset: lower taxes on work and enterprise, less red tape, faster planning and a serious push to get investment moving. Otherwise Britain risks getting stuck in the economic slow lane, with prices accelerating and growth stalling at the same time.
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Rohit Kohli
Director at The Mortgage Stop
April’s fall is not a shock. The Iran conflict was weighing heavily on confidence at that point, particularly through fuel and energy prices. When households see those costs rising again, they pull back. Bigger financial decisions get delayed, and that quickly feeds into services and the housing market. The construction rise is surprising, because it does not match what we are seeing on the ground. Many borrowers, developers and landlords remain cautious. Funding costs are still hurting viability, and some projects that looked workable two years ago no longer stack up. These numbers are sending out a clear warning, the economy needs lower borrowing costs, lower taxes, stable policy and a calmer global backdrop before confidence properly returns.
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Scott Gallacher
Director at Rowley Turton
Sadly, the UK economy is still largely treading water, and that is bad news for households, businesses and the Government alike.

A 0.1% contraction in April is not a crisis on its own, particularly after stronger growth earlier in the year, but it does underline how fragile the economy remains. For all the talk of a growth agenda, many businesses and families are still waiting to feel the benefit.

With Sir Keir Starmer already under pressure and the Chancellor having put growth at the heart of her economic strategy, these figures are politically uncomfortable. The real challenge is not explaining one weak month, but showing that the UK has a credible route back to sustained, meaningful growth.
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Craig Fish
Director at Lodestone Mortgages
A 0.1% contraction in April should be a wake-up call, not a footnote. Services, the backbone of this economy, fell 0.2%, and that's the bit that should worry people most. Production flatlined too. The only bright spot was construction, up 0.1% on the month, but one sector limping forward doesn't offset the rest standing still or going backwards. I honestly think this is the direction we're heading in for a while yet. Nobody in government seems to have a credible plan for growth, and on top of that you've got an erratic occupant of the White House whose decisions can knock UK markets and swap rates about just as much as anything decided in Westminster. That's the backdrop borrowers and businesses are operating in.If rates don't come down soon, this kind of number won't be a one-off, it'll become the pattern.
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Sam Kirk
Managing Director at J-Flex Rubber Products
If there was any doubt regarding Rachel Reeves and her CV, it should be firmly removed by now.

Like many employers, we've all seen candidates that appear too good to be true, in reality you have to perform eventually - and the reality here, with yet another contraction of the economy, is that Reeves is doing an awful job.