The ONS said monthly GDP fell 0.1% in April, after growth of 0.3% in March and 0.4% in February. Services output fell 0.2% on the month, production showed no growth, and construction output rose 0.1%.
UK monthly GDP growth, February-April 2026. Source: Office for National Statistics, June 2026.
GDP is the broadest measure of economic output: it estimates the value of goods and services produced in the country. The April estimate is monthly and early, which means it can be revised as more survey and administrative data arrive.
The longer three-month measure was stronger than the monthly reading. The ONS said real GDP grew 0.7% in the three months to April compared with the three months to January, after growth of 0.6% in the three months to March and 0.5% in the three months to February. It said this was the fifth consecutive three-month-on-three-month increase.
The services sector drove the April fall. The ONS said services output declined 0.2% in April, with eight of 14 subsectors falling. It identified administrative and support service activities as the largest negative contribution to services output, with that subsector down 2.2%.
Arts, entertainment and recreation was the second-largest negative services contribution. The ONS said sports activities and amusement and recreation activities fell 9.1%, the largest negative contribution from a single industry to both services output and real GDP growth in April. It said some of that fall could be attributed to effects from the conflict in the Middle East, including cancellations of multiple sporting events in the Middle East that affected UK-based businesses.
That wording matters. The ONS did not attribute the whole monthly GDP contraction to the war. Its release identified a specific channel inside one services industry, while also recording other sector moves: construction rose 0.1% on the month and production was flat.