International trade has made its biggest contribution to growth in four years and business investment was the highest in more than 12 months, boosting hopes that the economy may finally be starting to move away from its reliance in consumer spending.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that net trade boosted GDP by 1 percentage point in the second quarter compared with the previous three months as exports jumped by almost 4 per cent, while imports were 0.6 per cent higher.
Business investment rose by 2.9 per cent, the highest in a year, while household spending grew 0.7 per cent, slowing from 0.9 per cent in the first quarter.
The data confirmed that the economy grew by 0.7 per cent in the second quarter of the year, up from 0.4 per cent in the first three months of the year. The economy expanded by 3 per cent in 2014, the biggest since 2006. The Bank of England is forecasting growth of 2.8 per cent this year.
Despite the unexpected pick-up in exports, several economists predicted that trade would lose its impact.
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Samuel Tombs, at Capital Economics, said: “The pound’s recent appreciation and the continued weakness of demand in some export markets such as the eurozone and China suggest that net exports are not about to play a sustained role in supporting the economic recovery.”
Nonetheless, with growth in households’ real incomes set to remain supported by low inflation, building wage growth and strong job creation, he believes that the economic recovery “will sustain its current pace in the second half of 2015”.