The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has issued a set of improved UK gross domestic product (GDP) figures for April to June.
GDP is now estimated to have increased by 0.2% in Q2, revised up from an estimate of a 0.1% fall.
Nominal GDP rose by an upwardly revised 1.4% versus the ONS’ previous estimate of 1.1%.
Between April and June output rose by 0.2%, upwardly revised from the first quarterly estimate of a 0.1% fall.
There was an upwardly revised growth of 0.5% in financial and insurance activities, driven by changes to the measurement of insurance and pensions. This is now 4.8% above its pre-Coronavirus levels.
The ONS also updated its household consumption expenditure figures for April to June from 2.6% to 3.2%. The household consumption expenditure is an estimate of spending on financial services, including loans and deposits.
There were increases in services and construction output, while production output fell. Services output is now a revised 0.9% below Q4 2019 levels, while production output is now 5.2% above those pre-pandemic levels. Construction output is now 3.2% above pre-pandemic levels.
There was a slowing in growth in household consumption expenditure in the second quarter between April and June. Real household expenditure rose by an upwardly revised 0.1%, following Q1 growth of 0.6%.
The ONS also revised its GDP data for the period during the Coronavirus pandemic.
UK GDP is now estimated to have contracted by 11% in 2020, revised up from the previous estimate of 9.3%.
In 2021, UK GDP is estimated to have expanded by an upwardly revised 7.5%, compared with an initial estimate of 7.4%.
Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the Office for National Statistics, said: “Overall, these new figures show that the economy was slightly smaller than our previous estimate and in the second quarter was a little below its level when the pandemic struck. The economy shrank more than we first estimated during the early months of the pandemic but rebounded more strongly in the latter half of 2021.
“These improved figures show the economy grew in the second quarter, revised up from a small fall. They also show that while household savings fell back in the most recent quarter, households saved more than we previously estimated during and after the pandemic.”
