UK economic growth shows repeated seasonal slump for fourth year

British economic growth data released this week showed a marked seasonal pattern for the fourth year in a row, adding to economists’ concerns about numbers from the Office for National Statistics.

Last year the ONS was criticised for its data quality in official reports, but these looked mostly at labour force figures which suffered from a fall in response rates, rather than gross domestic product.

Official figures showed that economic growth in 2025 was its fastest in the first quarter...