UK economy grows by 0.4% in second quarter as some businesses helped by World Cup and hot weather – business live

Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as GDP rises in June despite Iran war after stagnating in May Good morning, and welcome to our live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets. The UK economy grew by 0.4% in the second quarter of 2026, in line with economists’ expectations, but with faster growth than expected in June as the football World Cup and warmer weather helped retailers and leisure sectors. The FIFA Football World Cup, which started on 11 June 2026, was cited as a reason for an increase in turnover in June 2026 by businesses in industries such as the manufacture of alcohol, wholesale, food and beverage serving activities, publishing activities, television production and advertising. Some positive impacts were cited by some businesses across a range of manufacturing industries, retail, accommodation, and amusement and recreation activities. On the reverse, the warm weather was also cited as having a negative impact in terms of construction activities and also in education where schools were closed because of the heatwave. 10am BST: Eurozone industrial production (June; previous: -0.2%; consensus: -0.1%) 1:30pm BST: US producer price index inflation (July; prev.: -0.3%; cons.: 0.2%)..