GDP Monthly Estimate: May 2022

Industry Results

Output in the services sector, which accounts for around three quarters of the economy, grew by 0.4% in May, only recovering some of the output lost in the 0.9% fall in April.

At the broad level, output in consumer facing services grew by 1.6%, and has surpassed the pre-pandemic level of February 2020 for the first time, with ongoing recovery in some subsectors outweighing the slowing in retail and hospitality growth seen in recent months.

Output in health, education and public services fell by 0.4% in May, after also falling in April, mostly due to the reductions in NHS test and trace activities throughout April.

Output across all other services grew by 0.5% in total, with a wide range of performance seen between the subsectors, reflecting in part the inherent volatility seen in month to month GDP movements.

Overall output in production, construction and agriculture grew by 1.1% compared to the previous month. This includes substantial growth of 8.9% in the electricity and gas supply industry due to record levels of wind power generation during the month. Manufacturing output fell by 0.3% in May, while construction output is estimated to have grown by 1.7%.