The UK economy grew 0.7% in the third quarter, up from 0.5% in the second, leaving output 1.9% higher than a year earlier and nominal GDP up 4.3%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Thursday.
Nominal GDP, which is measured in current prices without stripping out inflation, grew 1.4% on the quarter. The ONS said that growth was mainly driven by gross operating surplus (company profits) and compensation of employees.
The second-quarter figure has been revised up. The first estimate for April to June was 0.4%, after growth of 0.6% in the first quarter, and annual growth in that quarter was then put at 1.2%.
The ONS said growth in the quarter was mainly caused by a 0.9% rise in services, in particular business-facing services. Production rose 0.1% and construction fell 0.7%.
Thirteen of the 20 subsectors of GDP increased in the quarter.
Real GDP per head, which divides output by the UK population, also rose 0.7% in the quarter and is 1.7% higher than a year earlier. The first estimate for the second quarter had put the annual rise in per head output at 1.0%.
Excluding net tourism, domestic consumption grew 0.6% in the quarter, against 0.4% in the second-quarter first estimate. The ONS said net tourism made little contribution to household consumption growth and is offset within trade, so it has no effect on total GDP.
The trade deficit in goods and services is put at 1.3% of nominal GDP in the third quarter. The second-quarter first estimate was 2.1%.
The ONS cautioned that the third-quarter figure includes non-monetary gold and other precious metals, which it described as an erratic series.
Monthly GDP grew 0.2% in September. August has been revised down to no growth from 0.1%, while July is unchanged at 0.4%.
The August monthly estimate, published on 15 October, had shown growth of 0.1% that month, driven by a 0.8% rise in production, with services flat and construction down 0.2%. It had put growth in the three months to August at 0.7%.
The ONS now puts services output up 0.9% in the three months to August, and its monthly estimate shows growth in the three months to August at 0.6%, revised down from 0.7%. Production fell 0.5% in that period, revised down from a fall of 0.2%.
The ONS said early GDP estimates are subject to revision in either direction. Since the first quarter of 2000, the mean absolute revision between the first estimate and the final one published three years later is 0.27 percentage points.
It said revisions arise when more detailed information becomes available through the annual supply and use balancing process.
The next GDP release is due on 22 December 2026.
