Andrew Sentance, a former rate setter at the Bank of England, said the UK was on pace for “the most dismal decade for growth in 100 years”.
Business investment slumped by 2.7pc in the last three months of 2025, the ONS said, following growth of 1.6pc in the previous quarter. Economy grew by just 1.3pc in 2025 as a whole, with the 2020s on course for the worst UK growth performance since the 1920s – the most dismal decade for growth in 100 years!
[embedpress]https://x.com/asentance/status/2021846781248634888[/embedpress]Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the economy is “heading in the right direction,” arguing that growth will mean “more money back in your pocket.”
However, official figures paint a more mixed picture. Real GDP per head, a key measure of output per person, fell by 0.1% in each of the last two quarters of 2025.
Business investment also dropped sharply, slumping 2.7% in the final quarter of the year. This left growth increasingly supported by the public sector, with government consumption rising 0.4%.
Business investment falls sharply after Budget turmoil
Business investment fell sharply at the end of last year as companies delayed spending decisions amid heightened Budget uncertainty, according to official data.
The Office for National Statistics said business investment slumped by 2.7% in the final three months of 2025, reversing a 1.6% increase in the previous quarter.
The decline came as firms grappled with uncertainty in the run-up to the Budget, after the Chancellor had suggested tax rises might be needed to address a supposed hole in the public finances — a gap that later proved not to exist.
