UK economy shows zero growth in Q3

Britain's gross domestic product (GDP) registered no growth in the third quarter of 2024, revised down from the first estimate increase of 0.1 percent, according to official data released on Monday.

According to Britain's Office for National Statistics (ONS), from July to September, the services sector output saw no growth, while a 0.7-percent increase in construction was offset by a 0.4 percent fall in production.

For the GDP growth in the second quarter, the ONS also revised it to 0.5 percent, down from its first estimate of 0.6 percent growth.

The downward revision of GDP growth comes amid declining public confidence in the economy and increasing pressure on the Labor government, which assumed power in July after 14 years in opposition.

Data for the last quarter of the year do not look promising. Last week, Britain's central bank, the Bank of England, forecast zero GDP growth in the fourth quarter, weaker than the 0.3 percent growth predicted in November.

China's outstanding aggregate social financing -- the total amount of financing to the real economy -- reached 442.12 trillion yuan (about 63.4 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of 2025, up 8.3 percent year on year, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The country's aggregate social financing stood at 35.6 trillion yuan (about 5.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up by 3.34 trillion yuan (about 479 billion U.S. dollars) from the year 2024, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

According to the data, the M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 8.5 percent year on year to 340.29 trillion yuan (about 48.8 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of December.

In addition, outstanding yuan loans stood at 271.91 trillion yuan (about 39 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2025, up 6.4 percent year on year.