Image source, PA Media

In short: Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said there is "more to do to build an economy that works for working people" after GDP increased by a slower-than-expected 0.1% in the three months to September, according to newly released official figures.

Closer look: Growth was hit by the summer's Jaguar Land Rover cyber attack, which saw the economy shrink by 0.1% in the month of September after a decrease in car production.

Analysis: These numbers, the last to be released before the Budget in two weeks, only add to the pressure on the chancellor, our chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman writes.

Key reaction: Responding to the figures, Reeves said she will take "fair decisions to build a strong economy" at the Budget. But shadow chancellor Mel Stride said the figures show the government is "in office but not in power".

More analysis: This is not what Reeves wants before a career-defining Budget, writes our deputy economics editor Dharshini David, who says the chancellor's challenge now will be to boost confidence and activity at the Budget - even while potentially announcing tax rises.

This is not what Reeves wants before a career-defining Budgetpublished at 08:12 GMT

08:12 GMT

Dharshini David
Deputy economics editor

Growth has lost momentum since the start of the year.

Allow for population growth and there was no improvement in GDP per person over the summer.

The shutdown at Jaguar Land Rover hit activity in September - production in the car sector fell 29% that month - but even excluding that, performance has been underwhelming in recent months.

Growth slowed in key sectors such as services and construction - and those are the areas most likely to have seen costs increase as a result of last year’s Budget policies.

Business investment, so important for boosting future growth, has faltered.

Consumer spending growth remains weak: surveys suggest some have been more hesitant to spend due to concerns about this Budget’s contents - and economists predict that could be continuing to weigh on growth for the rest of the year.

The chancellor admits there’s more to be done. The challenge for her is to boost confidence and activity at the Budget in two weeks, even while potentially announcing tax rises that will take billions out of pockets and the economy.

Chancellor's GDP response accepts growth mission incompletepublished at 08:00 GMT

08:00 GMT

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

"Economic growth is the number one mission of the government" - so says the Plan for Change, the document released in December 2024 in an attempt to flesh out Keir Starmer’s priorities.

Clearly, on its own terms, the government has not got there yet.

That is acknowledged in Rachel Reeves’s response to the figures this morning, in which - while she talks up the performance of the economy in the first half of the year - she accepts that there is "more to do".

This only adds to the pressure on the Budget in 13 days.

But whatever these statistics had said, that was already shaping up to be the defining moment of this government’s period in office so far, with the chancellor considering significant and potentially manifesto-busting tax rises.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

There's also been a response to the figures from shadow chancellor Mel Stride (read our last post to see what Rachel Reeves said).

"Today's ONS figures show the economy shrank in the latest month, under a prime minister and chancellor who are in office but not in power," Stride says.

"Only the Conservatives have a leader with a backbone and a plan to deliver £47bn of savings - allowing us to cut tax and cut the deficit under our Golden Economic Rule," he adds.

He also attacks Labour following the news yesterday that Keir Starmer's allies told numerous media outlets the PM could face a leadership challenge from another cabinet minister - such as Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

Streeting has denied he's lining up a leadership bid, and called on those behind the briefings to be sacked.

Starmer has "lost control of his own Downing Street operation - with his team openly at war with his cabinet", Stride says - adding: "If the prime minister does not have the backbone to control his team, he has no hope of reducing spending".

Image source, PA Media

We're now hearing Chancellor Rachel Reeves's response to these figures.

"We had the fastest-growing economy in the G7 in the first half of the year, but there’s more to do to build an economy that works for working people," she says.

Reeves goes on: "At my Budget later this month, I will take the fair decisions to build a strong economy that helps us to continue to cut waiting lists, cut the national debt and cut the cost of living."

Image source, Getty Images

Today's growth figures reflect the impact of the Jaguar Land Rover cyber attack on the UK economy, which began at the end of August.

GDP fell by 0.1% in September after the five-week shutdown drove car production down by more than a quarter.

Overall UK car production fell by 27% to just over 51,000 that month - the lowest number of cars made in any September in the UK since 1952, including the pandemic, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) figures showed.

This morning's ONS data puts September's car production at 28.6% down.

It's thought to have been the most economically damaging cyber event in UK history, according to experts at the Cyber Monitoring Centre - an independent, non-profit organisation that analyses cyber events.

It estimated the attack to have cost the economy £1.9bn, adding that 5,000 businesses have been affected in total and a full recovery will not be reached until January 2026.

Alongside the quarterly figure covering July to September, the ONS has also released a separate figure for September alone.

It shows that GDP fell by 0.1% last month, meaning the economy shrank by that much.

A lacklustre performance from the economypublished at 07:15 GMT

07:15 GMT

Dharshini David
Deputy economics editor

Growth makes us better off and is the government's number one mission - but these figures are a reminder that there’s a way to go before it can say "mission achieved".

Not only was growth weaker than expected but, allow for population growth, and the economy stalled over the summer.

The shutdown at Jaguar Land Rover did hit GDP in September – but even without that, performance was lacklustre.

Along with the figures, Liz McKeown, the Office for National Statistics' director of economic statistics, releases a statement.

She says: "Growth slowed further in the third quarter of the year with both services and construction weaker than in the previous period.

"There was also a further contraction in production."

She adds that there was a "particularly marked fall in car production in September, reflecting the impact of a cyber incident, as well as a decline in the often-erratic pharmaceutical industry".

Jennifer Meierhans
BBC News

That's a lower figure than economists had expected and it means economic growth had slowed from 0.3% the second quarter of the year to 0.1% in the third quarter.

The UK economy saw slower than expected growth of 0.1% in the three months to September, official figures show.

Stay with us for more.

Jennifer Meierhans
Business reporter

We really want to know whether the UK economy has grown in the third quarter (July-September) compared to the second quarter (April-June).

The consensus forecast among analysts is that we'll see 0.2% growth for Q3, which is what the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee also predicted.

Pantheon Macroeconomics forecast 0.2%, but says "we see a good chance that quarterly growth will round up to 0.3%".

The company thinks the Jaguar Land Rover cyber attack - which caused UK car production to hit a 70-year low for September - "will weigh heavily on GDP, with a risk of a bigger drop than we have factored in".

But it also says "strong car registrations and retail sales should boost services, while solid growth in GP appointments and A&E admissions could boost health output".

Ahead of the figures, let's hear what Rachel Reeves was saying about growth on Monday, when she sat down with BBC Radio 5 Live's Matt Chorley.

Reeves said the UK's economic growth had not been as strong as she would like.

"The economic circumstances have declined, deteriorated since a year ago," she said, blaming "conflicts" and "trade barriers".

As a result, she will be "looking at" both taxes and spending in the Budget, she told Chorley.

She also said the principles guiding her Budget will be "fairness and growing the economy".

In the same interview, Reeves suggested she favours removing limits on benefits linked to family size, which could signal an end to the two-child benefit cap.

Tommy Lumby
Data journalist

Many economists and politicians - including the chancellor - have raised concerns this year that the UK economy is not growing fast enough.

Today's figures will give us an idea of the situation in the third quarter of the year, which covers July through to September.

In the bar chart below, you can see how the economy grew by 0.3% in Q2 - the three months to June - which was slightly better than some economists had been expecting, but still slower than the first quarter of the year at 0.7%.

You can also see the growth figures for last year and 2023.

In less than 20 minutes, when the latest data come out, we'll be able to see if growth has slowed or picked up pace since then.

The figures being published today are for GDP - Gross Domestic Product.

GDP measures how much is produced, how much is spent and how much is earned in a country's economy over time.

In the UK, new GDP figures are published every month by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS measures GDP by taking into account the UK's output, its expenditure, and its income - but this can sometimes hide details on important aspects of living standards like inequality and living standards.

Most economists, politicians, and businesses like to see GDP growing steadily - that means people are spending more, more jobs are being created and more tax is being paid.

If GDP falls for two quarters in a row, this is known as a recession, which can lead to pay freezes and job losses.

In August, the figures showed that the economy grew by 0.3% between April and June - better than economists had expected. We were also told growth had slowed from 0.7% in the first three months of the year to 0.3% in the second quarter.

• Read more on how GDP is measured, and how it might affect you, here

Jennifer Meierhans
Business reporter

At 07:00 GMT we’ll find out if the economy grew, shrank or flat-lined in the third quarter of this year - from July to September.

These figures are particularly interesting as they come a fortnight before Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to unveil her Autumn Budget.

The Labour government has made economic growth one of its key priorities and today’s figures will be an indication of how that’s going and the challenges ahead.

Stay with us for the numbers and expert analysis on what it all means for the economy - and you.