The British economy has grown by 0.1% over the last quarter of 2019, according to new reports by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). However, whilst growth in September and October appeared to show signs of positive upward movement for the economy, a disappointing November saw the economy shrink by 0.3%, which dragged down the overall growth figure reported this week.
Low Growth
According to the report, this is the lowest growth in the economy year-on-year since 2012, when the United Kingdom was still in the grips of the credit crunch.
It suggests that continued political turmoil and uncertainty, alongside increasingly poor performances from the UK’s major industries, including the service sector, remain one of the driving forces behind the UK’s ever-shrinking economy.
Mixed Signals
Analysts have already begun suggesting that specific factors are still at play that caused economic growth in the final quarter to be so low.
September and October saw the economy grow slightly more than experts had been predicting, leading to a general understanding that November would continue the trend.
However, November presented a significant drop in growth which caused predictions for a stronger economy at the end of 2019 to collapse.
Experts have suggested that the sudden dip comes primarily from the UK’s largest industries – whilst construction continued to grow at a higher than average rate, the service industry and manufacturing both underperformed to expectations, dragging down the overall growth rate of the economy as a whole.
The figures from the services sector are particularly concerning; ONS reports on the service industry suggest that it remains the industry the UK’s economy is most reliant on, with a large chunk of overall GDP coming from the sector.
Political Factors
On top of this, experts have been quick to point out the ongoing turmoil of Brexit and the run-up to the December 2019 General Election also played a hand in the lacklustre growth of the economy.
With the January deadline for leaving the European Union looming and uncertainty as to whether the Conservatives would hold their place in Parliament, it’s unclear whether the first quarter of 2020 will look more positive for the UK economy.