The Iran war pushed up the price of petrol and other energy costs. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPAView image in fullscreenThe Iran war pushed up the price of petrol and other energy costs. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPAUK economy grew by 0.1% in May despite impact of Iran warRise in GDP follows a 0.1% decline in April, figures from the Office for National Statistics show
The UK economy grew by 0.1% in May, despite the impact of the Iran war on energy costs, official figures show.
The Office for National Statistics said GDP rose, following a 0.1% decline in April. The figures were in line with a 0.1% rise in May that economists had forecast.
Despite April’s dip, the economy appears to have been more resilient in the face of the Middle East conflict than some analysts had feared.
The International Monetary Fund recently upgraded its forecast for UK GDP growth for the year as a whole, to 1%, up 0.2 percentage points from its April forecast.
However, the UK economic outlook remains highly uncertain and oil prices have risen sharply again since hostilities resumed in the Middle East this week, underlining the economic challenges facing Andy Burnham as he takes over as Labour leader.
The Resolution Foundation thinktank reckons more than half of the £23.6bn in “headroom” the outgoing chancellor, Rachel Reeves, left herself against her fiscal rules at the spring statement will be wiped out by the effects of the war.
