UK Business Investment Recovers in Q1

2026-05-14 06:21 By Joshua Ferrer 1 min. read

Business investment in the United Kingdom rose by 0.7% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to March 2026, rebounding from an upwardly revised 2.9% drop in the previous period, preliminary estimates showed.

Still, the latest reading came in well below market expectations of a 1.1% increase and marked the weakest growth since the second quarter of 2023, highlighting a still-fragile recovery in corporate spending.

The increase was largely driven by a significant rise in spending on transport equipment, while investment declined mainly in intellectual property products.

On an annual basis, business investment fell by 1.8% in the first quarter, marking the first annual contraction in two years and reversing from a downwardly revised 1.8% gain in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, overall gross fixed capital formation increased by 4.3% quarter-on-quarter and 0.5% annually.



News Stream
UK 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, rebounding from an upwardly revised 2.9% drop in the previous period, preliminary estimates showed. Still, the latest reading came in well below market expectations of a 1.1% increase and marked the weakest growth since the second quarter of 2023, highlighting a still-fragile recovery in corporate spending. The increase was largely driven by a significant rise in spending on transport equipment, while investment declined mainly in intellectual property products. On an annual basis, business investment fell by 1.8% in the first quarter, marking the first annual contraction in two years and reversing from a downwardly revised 1.8% gain in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, overall gross fixed capital formation increased by 4.3% quarter-on-quarter and 0.5% annually.
2026-05-14
UK Business Investment Falls Less Than Expected
Business investment in the United Kingdom fell by 2.5% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to December 2025, a smaller decline than the preliminary estimate of 2.7%, but reversing from a downwardly revised 1.1% increase in the previous period. The latest figure also marked the sharpest contraction since the third quarter of 2023, pointing to a clear slowdown in corporate spending. On an annual basis, business investment rose by 2%, in line with initial estimates, though this was the weakest growth since the second quarter of 2024 and a notable slowdown from the upwardly revised 3.5% expansion in the prior period. Meanwhile, overall gross fixed capital formation edged up by just 0.2%, easing from 1.2% growth previously, largely weighed down by a steep 18.2% drop in transport equipment.
2026-03-31
UK Business Investment Drops Most Since Early 2021
Business investment in the United Kingdom declined by 2.7% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to December 2025, compared to market expectations of a 0.4% rise and an upwardly revised 1.6% growth in the previous period, preliminary estimates showed. This was the sharpest fall since the first quarter of 2021, led by a significant drop in spending on transport equipment. On an annual basis, business investment grew by 2% in the fourth quarter, the smallest increase in a year, following a downwardly revised 2.5% rise in the third quarter. For 2025 as a whole, business investment was 3.5% higher than in 2024. Meanwhile, overall gross fixed capital formation edged down by 0.1% quarter-on-quarter but increased by 3.6% year-on-year.
2026-02-12