The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Wednesday sharply raised its forecasts for British economic growth for this year and 2025, after previously predicting that Britain would achieve the weakest growth among all G7 countries.
The Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development expects the UK economy to grow by 1.1% in 2024 and 1.2% in 2025, up from previous forecasts of 0.4% and 1.0%, and similar to the Bank of England’s forecast last month. .
The OECD’s upward revision – part of a broader global review of its forecasts – puts Britain’s growth rate this year and next near most other G7 countries, but behind the US rate.
The British economy grew faster than most forecasters expected in the first half of 2024, prompting other organizations including the Bank of England to raise growth figures for the year.
Responding to the latest OECD forecasts, Treasurer Rachel Reeves said: “We welcome faster rates of economic growth, but I know there is much more to be done and that is why economic growth is this government’s most important task.”
The center-left Labor Party achieved a landslide victory in the elections that took place in July. When she was in opposition in May at the time of the latest OECD forecasts, she said they reflected 14 years of economic failure by the Conservative government.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development continued its expectations that Britain would record the highest inflation rate among all G7 countries in 2024 and 2025, with an average of 2.7% in 2024 and 2.4% in 2025, with little change from previous expectations.
UK inflation was 2.2% in August, just above the Bank of England’s 2% target, but the central bank expects inflation to rise due to a sharp increase in the cost of domestically produced services and the waning impact of falling energy costs last year.
