The UK economy flatlined in July, according to today's figures from the Office for National Statistics. The findings follow on a slight increased in GDP of 0.2% in April, May and June.

Today's data for July will land on the desk of Chancellor Rachel Reeves as unpleasant weekend reading ahead of what is being seen as a momentous autumn budget come November 26 as she attempts to resolve a black hole in the public finances – which is now broadly estimated to be between £30-£40bn.

ONS director Liz McKeown said: "Growth in the economy as a whole continued to slow over the last three months."

She added: "While services growth held up, production fell back further. Within services, health, computer programming and office support services all performed well, while the falls in production were driven by broad based weakness across manufacturing industries."

The July specifics reveal how:

● Production output was estimated to have decreased 1.3% during the three months to July 2025, compared with the three months to April 2025, which was "the weakest three-monthly growth since December 2023" and signalled a (down 1.3%).

● The largest negative contributor to the three-monthly fall in July 2025 came from manufacturing (down 1.1%), supported by electricity and gas (down 5.1%) and mining and quarrying (down 1.8%). This was partially offset by an increase in water supply and sewerage (up 1.6%).

● The large three-monthly decline in manufacturing during the three months to July 2025 was "because of widespread decline, with nine of the 13 subsectors falling; this is the first three-monthly decline for the manufacturing sector since January 2025," the report said.

● Monthly production output was estimated to have decreased 0.9% in July 2025; this follows a rise in June 2025 (up 0.7%) and a fall in May 2025 (down 1.3%).

● The fall in monthly production output in July 2025 resulted from decreases in manufacturing (down 1.3%), and mining and quarrying (down 2.0%); this was partially offset by rises in electricity and gas (up 2.0%) and water supply and sewerage (up 0.8%).

● Overall, nine of the 13 manufacturing subsectors saw a monthly decline in July 2025, with the largest negative contributions coming from computer, electronic and optical products (down 7.0%), basic pharmaceutical products (down 4.5%) and chemicals and chemical products (down 4.6%).

The data also contrasts with how GDP expanded strongly in the first half of 2025, making the UK the fastest-growing economy in the G7, and the ONS said GDP had been widely expected to slow in the second half.

In reaction to the insight from the ONS, a Treasury spokesperson said: "We know there's more to do to boost growth, because, whilst our economy isn't broken, it does feel stuck. That's the result of years of underinvestment, which we're determined to reverse through our plan for change."

Ahead of today's news, economic pressure on business led the CBI's CEO Rain Newton-Smith to call for urgent reforms to business rates and cuts to VAT thresholds. Any further tax rises on businesses would strangle growth and employment as well as harming working people.

Ms Newton-Smith said: "The world is different from when Labour drafted its manifesto, and when the facts change so should the solutions."

● Meanwhile, the British Retail Consortium today warned that 400 of the UK's biggest stores could close if the budget entrains any higher business rate banding. The BRC warns firms are under significant pressure from employment and tax costs, and the sector had seen 1,000 such spaces lost so far in the 2020s.