By Andy Bruce and Suban Abdulla
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) -Britain’s economy barely expanded in the third quarter, held back by September’s cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover, according to data on Thursday that underlined the backdrop of slow growth as finance minister Rachel Reeves readies her budget.
The economy grew 0.1% in the third quarter of 2025, the Office for National Statistics said, slowing from growth of 0.3% in the second quarter.
Economists polled by Reuters, as well as the Bank of England, had forecast 0.2% growth in gross domestic product for the July-September period.
The ONS reported a 28.6% collapse in the production of motor vehicles in September, the biggest such drop since April 2020 during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It cited a report from the SMMT motor industry trade body that described how “a cyber incident paused production at a major manufacturer”.
JLR, owned by India’s Tata Motors, has three factories in Britain, which together produce about 1,000 cars per day.
In September alone, the economy contracted by 0.1%. The poll had pointed to a flat reading.
Thursday’s data is unlikely to sway deliberations around Reeves’ November 26 Budget, with the economy still growing tepidly despite the government’s intention to “kickstart” it.
Nonetheless, Britain is on course to have the second-fastest growth among the Group of Seven nations in 2025 after the United States, the International Monetary Fund said last month.
(Reporting by Andy Bruce, Editing by Sam Tabahriti and Paul Sandle)
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