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CBI has responded to latest GDP data for Q4 2025.

Ben Jones, Senior Lead Economist, CBI, said:   

“A softer-than-expected end to last year comes as little surprise given the pressures many businesses experienced throughout the year: uneven demand, rising costs and persistent uncertainty that led key hiring and investment decisions to be deferred. 

“Growth last year leant heavily on public spending; the challenge now is to get private sector demand firing too. That depends both on households feeling able to spend more freely and on determined action to remove blockers to investment. 

“Stability remains vitally important if we’re to build momentum across the economy and is a key part of the UK’s pitch to investors at home and abroad. However, stability alone will not give firms the confidence required to press go on critical investments that deliver growth, jobs and opportunity across all parts of the country.   

“The Spring Forecast should be a critical delivery moment for the government's growth mission. Businesses want to see government take action to speed up relief for high industrial energy costs, collaborate with firms to find appropriate landing zones for the Employment Rights Act, and make real progress on tax simplification to ease the cost of doing business.”