Comment: GDP Figures – Short-term Growth Overshadowed by Long-term Fall

“The UK’s preliminary GDP growth figures have been revised up by 0.1% to 0.7% quarter-on-quarter, but businesses cannot ignore the estimated full year GDP figures which have been revised down to 1.8%. The initial impact that Brexit had on the UK economy in July has now plateaued and, despite the indication that the government will be steering towards a ‘hard Brexit’, businesses have still not felt the true impact. Article 50 is expected to be invoked in March but until then businesses should implement a cautious and logical approach that is crucially data-led.

“There is no doubt that Brexit will continue to throw-up roadblocks that will have to be overcome by all global organisations. Businesses must ignore news headlines expressing that the UK economy has grown, because it continues to be on a short-term basis and the true financial landscape will not be clear until 2019 at the earliest. In times of uncertainty business leaders must find a smart approach that unlocks potential growth, and should call on a merge of traditional and non-traditional data in the digitally-driven world. Traditional data offers the necessary background information on businesses, while non-traditional data can show real-time political, societal and economic impacts. In the meantime, businesses that turn to a data-led approach will be the ones that continue to find growth and prosper in times of unpredictable, economic fluctuations.”

Markus Kuger, Senior Economist, Dun & Bradstreet