{"id":687611,"date":"2026-07-12T12:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T12:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/687611\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T12:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T12:27:10","slug":"uk-economy-set-to-stagnate-as-iran-war-and-high-energy-costs-hold-back-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/687611\/","title":{"rendered":"UK economy set to stagnate as Iran war and high energy costs hold back growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n

Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n

The UK economy is expected to have remained stagnant for another month, with industries under pressure and geopolitical tensions hindering growth. <\/p>\n

The Office for National Statistics<\/a> (ONS) will publish May\u2019s gross domestic product (GDP<\/a>) figures on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Economists widely anticipate GDP<\/a> either flatlined or declined in May, following April’s 0.1 per cent slip. This marked a sharp pullback from 0.3 per cent growth in March and 0.4 per cent in February, the first contraction since last August.<\/p>\n

The April decline was led by a fall in the dominant services industry, despite offsetting growth in construction and manufacturing. Surging fuel and energy costs<\/a> squeezed businesses and households through April and May, though wholesale prices have recently eased.<\/p>\n

Chancellor Rachel Reeves<\/a> commented on the impact, stating it was “not a war we wanted or joined, but one that will have an impact at home”.<\/p>\n

\"HowHow the UK\u2019s economic growth (GDP) has changed monthly<\/p>\n

Pantheon Macroeconomics said it was forecasting another weak performance for the services industry but a more mixed bag across the wider economy, with subsectors like energy supply boosted by higher oil prices.<\/p>\n

Its analysts are expecting GDP<\/a> to have shown no growth in May.<\/p>\n

Deutsche Bank said it was expecting GDP to have declined by 0.1 per cent in May in a more downbeat outlook for the economy.<\/p>\n

Its chief UK economist Sanjay Raja predicted that services activity remained \u201csluggish\u201d in May, including information, professional and financial services, and real estate.<\/p>\n

\"UKUK economist Sanjay Raja predicted some sectors could get a boost this month as England has gone further in the World Cup and some pubs and bars have benefited from extended opening hours and busier periods<\/p>\n

However, Mr Raja said it was \u201cnot all bad news\u201d for the economy, adding: \u201cAnecdotally, retailers pointed to a combination of promotions and warmer weather boosting demand for items such as outdoor furniture and fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, he also suggested that some sectors could get a boost this month as England<\/a> has gone further in the Fifa World Cup and some pubs and bars have benefited from extended opening hours and busier periods.<\/p>\n

Ms Reeves, who spoke to the BBC\u2019s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg in what could be one of her final major broadcast interviews as Chancellor, acknowledged the public was \u201cimpatient for change\u201d when asked why Sir Keir\u2019s ministry was being ousted in a Labour leadership contest.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI\u2019m impatient for change, and I totally get that people want to see their lives changed faster, and that will be the job for Andy Burnham when he becomes a prime minister of our country in just over a week\u2019s time.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he\u2019s becoming prime minister because of the majority that we secured.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also know because of the work that I have done, Andy will take over an economy that is much stronger than the one that I inherited from the Conservatives just two years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-687611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687611","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=687611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}