Decent year for growth ends in a whimper 12 February 2026 GDP growth slowed to a disappointing 0.1 per cent in the last quarter of 2025, continuing the UK’s recent pattern of weak second half performances. And while 2025 as a whole was a decent year for growth, today’s figures show that the Government must double down on its growth agenda to build momentum in 2026, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday). Economic growth slowed towards the end of last year, repeating the pattern seen each year since the pandemic. This time around it was driven by stagnation in the usually dominant services sector. However, growth for the whole year was 1.3 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent in 2024, while GDP per capita growth – which accounts for population change and better tracks changes in disposable incomes – was much improved last year at 1.0 per cent, after showing no growth in 2024. Nonetheless, per capita growth in 2025 was still well below the UK’s long run average rate of 1.9 per cent. The Foundation says that recent economic data – such as PMIs – have pointed to a stronger performance in early 2026. But these green shoots will need to be built on if Britain is to get out of its stagnation trap. Simon Pittaway, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Once again the UK economy has had a poor performance in the second half of a year, with a promising start to 2025 drifting down to disappointing stagnation by the end. “But overall last year was a decent one for growth, especially on the metric that matters most for people’s living standards – GDP per capita. “The task for 2026 is for the government to double down on its growth agenda to build a sustained economic recovery that will eventually flow into people’s pay packets.”
