{"id":443234,"date":"2026-02-24T16:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T16:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/443234\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T16:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T16:18:09","slug":"britons-stuck-in-personal-recession-as-rachel-reevess-gdp-strategy-isnt-working","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/443234\/","title":{"rendered":"Britons stuck in ‘personal recession’ as Rachel Reeves’s GDP strategy ‘isn’t working’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Britain has slipped into what the TaxPayers’ Alliance describes as a “personal recession,” according to the campaign group’s examination of the latest gross domestic product (GDP) figures.<\/p>\n

Analysis of Office for National Statistics data reveals that while the broader economy expanded marginally by 0.1 per cent<\/a> during both the third and fourth quarters of 2025, individual prosperity moved in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n

GDP per capita contracted by 0.1 per cent across both periods, meaning the average person’s share of economic output shrank even as aggregate growth remained positive.<\/p>\n

The TaxPayers’ Alliance defines a personal recession as two consecutive quarters where GDP per capita declines, irrespective of how the overall economy performs.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

New analysis suggests Britons are trapped in a ‘personal recession’? <\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY <\/p>\n

Britain last experienced such conditions in 2023, though preliminary figures for 2025 had initially suggested another personal recession before subsequent revisions showed marginal improvements.<\/p>\n

The latest ONS data paints a stark picture: annual economic growth reached 1.3 per cent for 2025 as a whole, falling short of Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) projections made in November.<\/p>\n

Manufacturing provided some brightness, driving a 1.2 per cent expansion in the production sector during the final three months.<\/p>\n

\"ONSHow has GDP changed in recent years? | ONS \"TaxPayers'<\/p>\n

Are Britons experiencing a ‘personal recession’?<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

TAXPAYERS ALLIANCE <\/p>\n

However, services remained flat while construction contracted by 2.1 per cent. Lord Frost, who serves as Director General of the Institute of Economic Affairs, offered a damning assessment of ministerial efforts to boost the economy.<\/p>\n

He said: “Whatever the Government’s growth strategy may be, it isn’t working. The economy has virtually stalled since the spring. And GDP per head is falling again: if you feel poorer, it’s because you are.”<\/p>\n

Lord Frost characterised the situation as “an utter failure” for an administration that has made growth its central priority.<\/p>\n

The peer urged ministers to reverse course immediately, abandoning what he termed “growth-damaging measures” such as business tax increases and the Employment Rights Act.<\/p>\n

\"Rachel<\/p>\n

Rachel Reeves has made economic growth central her her agenda <\/p>\n

| GETTY<\/p>\n

He called for reduced taxation, lower public spending, and sweeping deregulation to revive the economy.<\/p>\n

The TaxPayers’ Alliance is demanding that ministers give GDP per capita equal weight alongside headline growth figures when formulating policy.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the group has outlined specific measures to ease pressure on taxpayers during personal recessions, including caps on benefit rises, comprehensive departmental spending reviews, reforms to visa categories favouring higher-skilled migrants, and a freeze on public sector wages.<\/p>\n

Darwin Friend, the organisation’s research director, said: “If living standards truly are falling again, it would be an unforgivable failing from this government.” He accused ministers of burdening businesses with excessive taxes and regulations despite narrowly avoiding a personal recession the previous year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Britain has slipped into what the TaxPayers’ Alliance describes as a “personal recession,” according to the campaign group’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,2222,229,1445,56,44208,54,55],"class_list":["post-443234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-money","tag-politics","tag-rachel-reeves","tag-uk","tag-uk-politics","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}