National accounts at a glance

All UK figures referred to in this section are consistent with Blue Book 2025, which contains data and methodological improvements affecting estimates that are produced as part of the national accounts. Revisions occur when there are data changes or methodological improvements that are required to ensure data comparability over time, which are communicated in line with the National Accounts Revisions Policy.

GDP is a measure of the total output produced in an economy. Real gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have increased by 1.1% in 2024, following a temporary contraction in the second half of 2023. Output increased by a further 0.9% in the first half of 2025.

GDP per head is one indicator of a country's living standards. Real GDP per head was mostly unchanged in 2024, following a 1% fall in 2023.

Gross domestic product (GDP) is a production concept, but net domestic product (NDP) is more appropriate from a welfare and sustainability perspective. It reflects the level of resources that are available for consumption or investment, and it is a proxy of the level of spending that can be maintained while leaving capital assets intact. This is because NDP considers the depreciation of capital assets – that is, the capital that is consumed as part of the production process for GDP.

Real UK NDP is estimated to have increased by 1.0% in 2024, while real NDP per head was unchanged following a 1.3% fall in 2023. Real NDP decreased more than real GDP during the pandemic because consumption of fixed capital did not fall during this period, unlike other types of expenditure.

Most measures of economic welfare fell in 2023 on a per-head basis. However, unlike real GDP and real NDP per head, which were unchanged in 2024, several other measures of income per head pointed to some recovery in economic welfare and living standards.

Disposable household income is the amount of money that individuals in the household sector can spend or save after income distribution measures. Real household gross and net disposable income increased by 2.8% and 3.5% in 2024, on a per-head basis. These measures are adjusted for social transfers in kind; without this adjustment real household disposable income (RHDI) per head increased by 3.2% in 2024, following a 0.5% fall in 2023. On aggregate, these measures of household disposable income point to a recovery in economic welfare in 2024, although they remain slightly below their peak level prior to increases in cost of living.

Economic growth in 2024 was led by services industries, which together make up around 80% of UK economic output. Growth of 1.6% in services and 0.6% in construction were partly offset by the decline of 1.5% in production. Output expanded in 13 of the 20 subsectors in 2024, particularly in health and social work (5.1%), transport and storage activities (4.8%), and public administration and defence (4.2%). Mining and quarrying continued to decline in 2024 – a fall of 10.9%. Consumer-facing services declined for a second year in a row in 2024 and remain below their level prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Real household final consumption expenditure is estimated to have declined by 0.2% in 2024, following a 0.3% decline in 2023. This continued weakness in household spending can be attributed to several factors, mainly related to the general economic outlook. This includes:

• higher economic and geopolitical uncertainty

• increases in the cost of living, as shown in our Consumer price inflation, UK bulletin

• some slowing in the labour market, where the number of vacancies decreased while unemployment increased in 2024, as shown in our Labour market overview, UK bulletin

Instead of spending, households opted to increase their saving. This is reflected in the household saving ratio increasing to 10.1% in 2024, up from 6.2% in 2023 but still lower than the high of 16.6% during the pandemic in 2020 when forced savings were a factor. A high household saving ratio might be indicative of some precautionary saving, or it might be motivated by returns on savings, among other factors.

Gross fixed capital formation is estimated to have risen by 0.5% in 2023 and 1.8% in 2024, mainly led by business investment. Fixed investment by the general government also increased. This was partly offset by investment in public and private new dwellings, and improvements to existing dwellings, which contracted for a second year in a row, by 5.5% in 2023 and 1.6% in 2024.

Investment trends also varied significantly across asset types. Investment in intellectual property products turned negative in 2024 for the first time since 2001, reflecting a reduction in R&D (research and development) spending by businesses and marking a shift in intangible investment behaviour. Similarly, fixed investment in transport equipment slowed from 21.3% in 2023 to 1.2% in 2024. In contrast, fixed investment in "other" buildings and structures improved from negative 0.5% in 2023 to 7.8% in 2024.

General government final consumption expenditures increased from 2.1% in 2023 to 3.4% in 2024. The largest contribution to this increase came from health spending, which saw a statistically significant rise from 0.8% in 2023 to 5.5% in 2024. This was followed by a 4.8% growth in expenditures on social protection.

The contribution of net trade to GDP growth declined in 2024 as the volume of exports increased by 0.7% while the volume of imports increased by a higher 2.6% in 2024. The increase in export and import volumes was led by higher trade in services, while trade in goods declined in 2024.

The UK reduced its net borrowing from the rest of the world in 2024 as households increased their saving. This was partly offset by lower net saving by the corporate sector, while the general government net balance remained unchanged as a share of GDP.

The household sector (including non-profit institutions serving households) increased its net lending to 3.2% of GDP in 2024, as real household disposable incomes increased while real consumption fell slightly. This was the highest household net lending since 2015, excluding the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic where the concept of forced savings and government subsidies were important factors.

Financial corporations were also a net lender in 2024, albeit net lending by this sector decreased compared with the previous year, to 1.0% of GDP. Non-financial corporations meanwhile moved to a net borrowing position, at negative 0.3% of GDP in 2024, from a small net lending position in the year prior. This was caused by net borrowing from private non-financial corporations (PNFCs).

General government net borrowing declined from its pandemic peak levels but remains relatively high at 6.0% in 2024. This general government net borrowing was higher than the total net lending provided by the domestic private sector, meaning the UK economy remained a net borrower from the rest of the world.

Nominal gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 4.8% in 2024, down from 6.6% in 2023. This is reflected in the GDP implied deflator, which declined to 3.6% in 2024 from 6.3% in 2023.

The GDP implied deflator measures changes in the price of economic output that is produced in the UK. It is a broad measure of inflation, and it can be decomposed into income components including unit labour cost, unit profits, unit other income, and unit net taxes. These are proxy measures for household, firm, and the government shares of income per unit of economic output.

By income category, the moderation in the GDP deflator in 2024 was accounted for by a slower pace of wage increase, and some fall in gross operating surplus (GOS). The growth rate of other income also slowed. This was partly offset by an increase in taxes on products and production while subsidies decreased. Consequently, the labour share of income increased in 2024, while the capital share decreased.

All G7 countries saw growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024 except for Germany, where the economy contracted for the second year in a row. Growth slowed in France, Italy, and Japan, while it increased in Canada and the UK in 2024. The US remained the fastest growing economy in the G7. The UK economy grew by 1.1% in 2024, compared with 0.3% in 2023. More information about the G7 countries can be found in our glossary.

Unit labour cost measures the average cost of labour required to produce one unit of output. It is also proxy measure for inflationary pressures from the domestic labour market. High wage growth and weak productivity growth meant that unit labour cost in the UK outpaced most other advanced economies, increasing by 7.3% in 2023 and 4.9% in 2024. This was second only to Germany in the G7, and it was broad-based across industries in the UK economy, including services, production, construction, and agriculture. Such increases in unit labour costs typically point to some remaining domestic inflationary pressures, with headline and core inflation in the UK among the highest in the G7 in 2025 to date.