Britain’s economy grew more slowly than previously thought in the July-September period, before the Omicron variant of the coronavirus posed a further threat to the recovery later in the year, official data showed on Wednesday.
Gross domestic product in the world’s fifth-biggest economy increased by 1.1% in the third quarter, weaker than a preliminary estimate of growth of 1.3% as global supply chain problems weighed on manufacturers and building firms.
The ONS said households dipped into their lockdown savings to finance their spending. The savings ratio fell to 8.6% of disposable income, down from almost 11% in the second quarter.
Weakness in the health sector, where test and trace work and vaccinations tailed off, and among hairdressers were partly behind the cut to the third-quarter growth estimate.
A fall in energy output, after a surge in demand during a cold spring in the second quarter, also weighed.
“However, stronger data for 2020 means the economy was closer to pre-pandemic levels in the third quarter,” ONS Director of Economic Statistics Darren Morgan said.
