UK growth outstrips eurozone

A hEATWAVE-fuelled shopping spree helped Britain’s economy grow by 0.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2018 – faster than France or the eurozone.

Retailers reported a bump in sales thanks to the hot weather, with summer staples such as barbecues and beer thought to have done well.

The official figures show growth was double the 0.2 per cent managed by France and higher than the 0.3 per cent for the euro bloc as a whole. It will fuel hopes that the economy can continue expanding at a respectable rate for the rest of the year as Brexit draws closer.

Laith Khalaf of investment firm hargreaves Lansdown said: ‘The UK economy

food and drink exports smashed sales records by hitting £10.6billion in the first six months of

018, which is up four per cent on the same time last year.

Some 6.7 million tonnes of goods were sent abroad, including 16 million bars of chocolate, 400,000 tonnes of vegetables and 64 million litres of ice cream, according to official figures. Other major exports included whisky (£ billion), cheese (£3 million) and salmon (£308million).

has gathered momentum in the second half as the World Cup, the Royal Wedding and warm weather got consumers spending their pennies. In today’s economic climate 0.4 per cent quarterly growth draws a small cheer from the crowd, though it would have been deemed below par prior to the financial crisis.’

The figures for the quarter to June 30 suggest there has been a recovery from the first three months of the year, when construction and spending were hit hard by the Beast from the East snowstorms and expansion was a sluggish 0.2 per cent.

Britain’s dominant services sector was the key driver for the pick-up, with expansion of 0.5 per cent, according to the Office for National Statistics. Retail was a particularly bright spot within that, up 2.1 per cent, and construction rebounded strongly with growth of 0.9 per cent.

however, the manufacturing sector declined for the second quarter in a row amid fears over a global trade war. There are signs this trend is coming to an end, with exports picking up in June and surveys of factory bosses suggesting a rise in new orders.

The growth figures were not enough to boost the pound yesterday, which fell 0.5 per cent against the dollar to below $1.28 and is around its lowest level since June last year.