14.05.202606:21:17UTC+00UK Business Investment Recovers in Q1

Business investment in the United Kingdom rose by 0.7% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to March 2026, recovering from an upwardly revised 2.9% decline in the previous quarter, according to preliminary estimates. However, the outcome fell short of market expectations for a 1.1% increase and represented the weakest quarterly growth since the second quarter of 2023, underscoring the continued fragility of the corporate spending recovery. The overall gain was largely driven by a strong rise in expenditure on transport equipment, while investment in intellectual property products declined on the whole. On a yearly basis, business investment contracted by 1.8% in the first quarter, the first annual decline in two years, reversing a downwardly revised 1.8% increase recorded in the fourth quarter. In contrast, total gross fixed capital formation rose by 4.3% quarter-on-quarter and 0.5% year-on-year.