Gross domestic product (GDP) growth increased by 0.1% in the three months to September, following 0.2% in the three months to August, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed in the last update ahead of the Budget.

The latest statistics followed 0.3% growth in the second quarter.

The ONS data also showed that monthly real GDP is estimated to have fallen by 0.1% in September, following no growth in the previous month.

The largest hit to growth came from production output, which fell by 2% in September and by 0.5% in the third quarter. This was caused by a 28.6% decline in the motor vehicle sector, following the Jaguar Land Rover cyber-attack.

In Q3, services output increased by 0.2%, while construction output jumped by 0.1%.

Head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, Danni Hewson, said: "The contraction in September can partly be explained by that debilitating cyber-attack on Jaguar Land Rover, but when you strip out population growth the economy simply stalled over the summer. It’s a long way from the economy bounce the country enjoyed at the start of the year when many companies were front loading production in order to beat Donald Trump’s tariffs.

"Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves need to dust themselves off and be ready to sell what are expected to be uncomfortable decisions to the country if they want to prevent more months of negative growth."

Personal finance analyst at Bestinvest, Alice Haine, said that the latest GDP data comes amid rising employment costs, sticky inflation, a cooling labour market and geopolitical uncertainty.

She added: "The lacklustre GDP data will deliver a blow to Chancellor Reeves as she makes the final tweaks to her Autumn Budget in less than two weeks’ time. It will also do little to ease the financial strain facing households.

"Reeves has warned that tax rises are inevitable and that everyone ‘must do their bit’ to help restore the public finances – a message likely to send shivers through households already grappling with higher bills and tighter budgets."

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