MNI BRIEF: UK May GDP Growth Higher, Boosted by Health Spend

UK GDP rose by a better-than-expected 0.5% in May, boosted by a strong upswing in health-related activity as a rise doctors appointments offset falling test and trace spending, data released by the Office for National Statistics Wednesday showed. GDP grew by 0.5% in May 2022, after an upwardly revised decline of 0.2% in April 2022, increasing 0.4% 3m/3m, and by 3.5% y/y.

Services output grew by 0.4% as human health and social work activities grew by 2.1%, mainly because of a large rise in GP appointments, which offset the continued scaling down of Covid-19 programs. Output in consumer-facing services fell by 0.1% in May 2022, driven by a 0.5% fall in retail trade, underlining the weak consumer position. Non-consumer facing services grew by 0.5% in May, following a fall of 0.8% in April.

Production grew by 0.9% in May 2022, driven by growth of 1.4% in manufacturing and 0.3% in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply. Construction grew by 1.5% in May 2022, following 0.3% growth in April. This is construction's seventh consecutive month of growth.