The UK’s economy grew by 0.1 per cent in November, according to figures released this morning, beating expectations.
The Office for National Statistics believes a boost from World Cup-related sales contributed to the growth.
But the data from the ONS shows that in the three months to November GDP shrank by 0.3 per cent.
Monthly GDP is now believed to be 0.3 per cent below its pre-Covid-19 levels in February 2020, the ONS added.
The construction sector did not see any growth in November 2022 despite 0.4 per cent growth in the previous month. And production output decreased by 0.2 per cent in November.
Likewise, manufacturing continued to struggle with figures from the ONS showing output fell by 0.5 per cent.
The services sector grew by 0.2 per cent and output in consumer-facing services grew by 0.4 per cent.
It follows a report from the British Retail Consortium earlier this week that showed that soaring inflation had driven sales growth over the festive period.
On Thursday, both Tesco and M&S announced that they had seen increased trading at UK stores as higher prices boosted their sales. Tesco said like-for-like sales compared to the same period last year rose by 5.3 per cent while M&S’ grew by 7.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, UK trade performance improved in November led by a 6.1 per cent increase in goods imports (adjusted for inflation).
Good exports picked up, rising by 1.7 per cent but concerns about the impact of the Brexit deal continue due to a 1.2 per cent fall in goods exports to the EU.
William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “Looking at a comparison over the three months to the end of November with the three months to the end of August, goods exports to the EU were 4.9 per cent lower over that period.
“While the UK did better than its peers in overall trade in November, the Export Strategy needs to deliver in 2023 given the global economic headwinds UK goods and service exports are currently facing.”
