UK economic growth faltered in the third quarter of 2025 as a major cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover disrupted automotive production and weighed on national output. New figures from the Office for National Statistics show GDP edging up by just 0.1% between July and September, down from 0.3% in the previous quarter and below expectations held by forecasters and the Bank of England.
Output fell in September by 0.1%, reflecting the scale of the disruption across manufacturing. The ONS recorded a 28.6% drop in motor vehicle production that month — the steepest fall since the early months of the pandemic. The downturn in the automotive sector removed 0.17 percentage points from September’s overall GDP and 0.06 points from the quarter.
Industry data linked the slump to a cyber incident that halted production at a major manufacturer. Jaguar Land Rover, which operates three UK plants with a combined output of around 1,000 vehicles a day, was among the affected businesses. An independent cybersecurity assessment estimated the wider economic impact of the hack at £1.9 billion, with more than 5,000 organisations experiencing disruption. Commercial vehicle production also weakened in September, compounding the sector’s losses.
The softer economic reading increased market expectations of a Bank of England interest rate cut next month, with traders assigning a significantly higher probability following the release. Sterling recorded a slight uptick against the dollar after the data.
The government is preparing its 26 November budget against a backdrop of muted growth and tightening fiscal pressure. The Bank of England anticipates a modest rebound in the final quarter, projecting a 0.3% expansion.
