23rd April 2026
The latest Business insights and impact on the UK economy release from the Office for National Statistics provides one of the most immediate and revealing windows into how firms across the country are actually experiencing current conditions.
Based on the Business Insights and Conditions Survey a rapid, fortnightly snapshot of business sentiment and activity. It captures something that traditional economic data often misses: the mood, expectations, and constraints shaping decisions in real time. What emerges from the April 2026 edition is not a story of collapse, but of mounting strain beneath a surface of stability.
At first glance, the business landscape appears relatively steady. Many firms continue trading, maintaining operations and reporting broadly stable turnover. There is no widespread signal of contraction or crisis. Yet this stability is deceptive. Beneath it lies a growing sense of pressure, particularly in relation to costs and pricing. A notable share of businesses expect to raise the prices of their goods and services, reflecting ongoing input cost challenges that have not fully eased. This expectation is not new, but its persistence suggests that inflationary dynamics are still working their way through the economy, even as headline inflation has moderated compared with earlier peaks.
These cost pressures are shaping behaviour in subtle but important ways. Businesses are not, on the whole, expanding aggressively or investing with confidence. Instead, they are adjusting—passing on costs where possible, absorbing them where necessary, and managing margins carefully. The result is an economy that continues to function, but without a strong sense of forward momentum. Firms are active, but cautious; operational, but not optimistic.
The labour market offers a similar picture of restrained adjustment. Many businesses report maintaining their workforce levels rather than significantly expanding them. Hiring intentions appear measured, reflecting both uncertainty about future demand and the continued need to control costs. This aligns with a broader pattern seen across other economic indicators: the UK is not shedding jobs at scale, but neither is it generating a surge in employment opportunities. Instead, the labour market is gradually cooling, mirroring the wider economy’s slow and tentative pace.
Trade conditions add another layer to this subdued outlook. For some firms, particularly those engaged in international markets, external demand and supply chain factors continue to influence performance. While the most acute disruptions of recent years have eased, global uncertainty still plays a role in shaping expectations. Businesses are operating in an environment where conditions can shift quickly, and this unpredictability reinforces a preference for caution over expansion.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the report is what it implies about confidence. The survey does not simply measure what businesses are doing—it captures what they expect. And here, the tone is unmistakably restrained. The willingness to invest, hire, or take risks appears limited, not because firms are failing, but because the outlook remains unclear. Stability, in this context, becomes a defensive position rather than a platform for growth.
This matters because business confidence is a critical driver of economic momentum. When firms feel secure in the future, they invest, expand, and hire, setting off a chain reaction that fuels growth. When confidence is fragile, even a stable economy can struggle to move forward. The April 2026 data suggests the UK is currently in the latter position: holding steady, but lacking the conviction needed to accelerate.
In many ways, this snapshot aligns with the broader economic narrative emerging from other ONS releases. Growth is present but weak, employment is stable but softening, and consumer activity is cautious rather than buoyant. The business perspective reinforces this picture, adding depth to the understanding of why the economy feels subdued despite avoiding outright decline.
What the report ultimately reveals is an economy defined not by crisis, but by constraint. Businesses are navigating a landscape shaped by lingering cost pressures, uncertain demand, and limited visibility about the future. They are adapting, managing, and enduring—but not yet thriving.
The challenge ahead is not simply to maintain this stability, but to transform it into something more dynamic. For that to happen, confidence will need to return—not abruptly, but gradually, as conditions become clearer and pressures ease. Until then, the UK economy is likely to remain in this delicate state: resilient enough to endure, but not yet ready to surge forward.
Main points
Nearly a quarter (23%) of trading businesses reported that their turnover had decreased in March 2026 when compared with the previous month, down 2 percentage points from February but in line with movements seen around this time in previous years; 16% of trading businesses expected turnover to decrease in May 2026, which is broadly stable compared with expectations for April.
Economic uncertainty remained the most reported challenge affecting turnover for trading businesses in early April 2026 at 35%, rising to 40% for trading businesses with 10 or more employees; these were up 3 and 6 percentage points, respectively, since March, and the highest proportions reported since the question was introduced in April 2022.
Four in ten (40%) trading businesses reported an increase in the prices of goods or services bought in March 2026 when compared with the previous month, 11 percentage points higher than February, and the highest proportion reported since December 2022 (41%); 15% reported an increase in the prices of goods or services sold, the highest proportion since April 2023 (16%).
Over a quarter (28%) of trading businesses expect the prices of goods or services they sell to increase in May 2026, up 6 percentage points compared with April and the highest since January 2023; 34% cited energy prices as a reason for considering raising prices in May, up 9 percentage points from April, the highest proportion since April 2023.
66% of businesses reported at least some level of concern about energy prices in early April 2026, up 11 percentage points from late March; this proportion was 76% for businesses with 10 or more employees, a rise of 2 percentage points from late March.
Almost 1 in 10 (9%) businesses experienced global supply chain disruption in March 2026, up 6 percentage points from February and the highest proportion since December 2022 (10%); of these businesses, 46% cited conflict in the Middle East as a reason for experiencing global supply chain disruption in March, a 34-percentage-point rise from February.
Read the full ONS report HERE