Business Insights And Impact On The UK Economy - 22 August 2024

22nd August 2024

More than 1 in 5 (23%) trading businesses reported that their turnover had decreased in July 2024 compared with June 2024, 16% reported an increase, while 53% reported no change; these figures are all broadly stable from last month.

Approximately 1 in 6 (17%) trading businesses expect their turnover to increase in September 2024, with 58% expecting turnover to stay the same, up 3 and 2 percentage points, respectively, on expectations for August 2024; while 13% expect turnover to fall, down 3 percentage points over the same period.

More than 1 in 5 (21%) trading businesses reported an increase in the prices of goods or services bought in July 2024 when compared with June 2024, while less than 1 in 10 (8%) reported an increase in the prices of goods or services sold; these percentages were both broadly stable compared with the previous month.

Almost two-thirds (64%) of trading businesses expect the prices of goods or services they sell to stay the same in September 2024, down 5 percentage points on expectations for August 2024; the proportion of businesses that expect to increase their prices rose 4 percentage points to 12% over the same period, with labour costs (21%) being reported as the main reason for this.

Fewer than 1 in 10 (5%) businesses with 10 or more employees experienced global supply chain disruption in July 2024, this has remained broadly stable since June 2023.

Almost two-thirds (63%) of businesses reported some form of concern for their business when looking ahead to September 2024, up 3 percentage points from August 2024; the most reported concern was falling demand for goods and services (20%).

Read the full ONS report HERE