Redazione RHC : 13 November 2025 17:13
The British economy contracted further in September, largely due to the cyber attack on car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and its forced closure.
A new report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) records a 0.1% contraction in GDP and simultaneously revises the August figure to zero, which recorded a 0.1% growth compared to the previous figure.
As a result, the country’s economy grew by only 0.1% in the third quarter, significantly below the 0.7% growth rate recorded at the beginning of the year . Other G7 countries are also posting similarly weak results: Germany, Italy, and Canada have seen stagnant or minimal GDP growth, ranging between 0 and 0.1%.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said the situation in the second half of the year requires “decisive but fair decisions” to strengthen the economy and reduce the cost of living. She will present her second budget in two weeks , promising to focus on measures to reduce public debt and improve the efficiency of the healthcare system.
The ONS report also includes the impact of the Jaguar Land Rover crisis, classified by the IT monitoring center as a “Category 3 systemic event.” Due to the forced closure and the impact on related sectors, vehicle production in the country fell by 29%, reducing overall GDP by 0.17 percentage points.
Even excluding the automotive sector, the economy remains stagnant.
Ruth Gregory, Deputy Chief Economist at Capital Economics, noted that growth remains constrained by high taxes and a weak external environment. She estimates that the planned tax increases, which will take effect after the next budget, could further reduce GDP by around 0.2% in 2026, making the prospects for an acceleration in growth extremely limited.
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