Business insights and impact on the UK economy - 24 April 2025 - Businesses Less Optimistic

24th April 2025

More than 1 in 6 (18%) trading businesses reported that their turnover had increased in March 2025 compared with the previous calendar month, up 3 percentage points from February.

In contrast, 22% reported their turnover had decreased, down 4 percentage points over the same period.

More than 1 in 7 (15%) trading businesses reported that they expect their turnover to increase in May 2025, down 4 percentage points compared with expectations for April 2025; this is 6 percentage points lower than May 2024, suggesting businesses are less optimistic than they were at this time last year.

Economic uncertainty was the most commonly reported challenge affecting turnover for trading businesses in early April 2025, at 32%, up 4 percentage points from early March 2025; for businesses with 10 or more employees, the most commonly reported challenge was cost of labour at 42%, the largest proportion reported since the question was introduced in April 2022.

More than 3 in 10 (32%) trading businesses reported an increase in the prices of goods or services bought in March 2025 when compared with the previous month, up 3 percentage points from February; there has been a steady increase of 12 percentage points since October 2024, and it is now the highest proportion reported since June 2023.

When looking ahead to May 2025, 65% of businesses reported having some form of concern for their business, down 3 percentage points from April 2025; although the most-reported main concern was falling demand for goods and services (17%), several businesses commented that they were concerned about tariffs.

More than 1 in 6 (17%) trading businesses reported in early April 2025 that they expect their overall performance to decrease over the next 12 months; while broadly stable with expectations stated in early March 2025, this has been steadily increasing since July 2024 (9%) and is the largest proportion reported since early September 2022.

Read he full ONS report HERE