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Business & Finance

UK economy grows 0.7% in third quarter, fastest in two and a half years

The Guardian reports that services and IT growth, tied to the rollout of AI services, drove the quarter's expansion.

Published Nov 12, 2026 · 23:12 UTC2 reports

The short version

  • The UK economy grew 0.7% in the third quarter, its fastest expansion in two and a half years.[The Guardian]
  • The Office for National Statistics said services, led by the IT sector, drove almost all of the growth.[The Guardian]
  • AJ Bell's Sarah Coles said AI did a significant portion of the heavy lifting last quarter.[The Guardian]
  • Deutsche Bank estimates AI-related spending added 0.3% to 0.4% to GDP growth this year.[The Guardian]

Key facts

  • UK GDP grew 0.7% in the third quarter, its fastest expansion in two and a half years.[The Guardian]
  • The Office for National Statistics said growth was almost entirely driven by services, led by the IT sector.[The Guardian]
  • The information and communication sector grew 2.1% in the quarter, mainly from computer programming and consultancy.[The Guardian]
  • Deutsche Bank estimates AI-related spending has added about 0.3% to 0.4% to GDP growth this year.[The Guardian]
  • AJ Bell's Sarah Coles said AI continued to do a significant portion of the heavy lifting in the last quarter.[The Guardian]

What remains uncertain

  • The AI share of growth rests on a Deutsche Bank estimate of 0.3% to 0.4% of GDP, not a figure reported by the ONS.[The Guardian · The Guardian]
  • Sarah Coles's view that AI did much of the heavy lifting is commentary, not a separately measured finding.[The Guardian]

Sources

Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.