FX.co ★ UK Business Investment Drops in Q4

Business investment in the United Kingdom fell by 2.7% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to December 2025, sharply missing market expectations of a 0.4% increase and following an upwardly revised 1.6% rise in the previous quarter, preliminary estimates showed. This marked the steepest quarterly decline since the first quarter of 2021, highlighting persistent weakness in corporate spending. On an annual basis, business investment rose by 2% in the fourth quarter, the smallest increase in a year, after a downwardly revised 2.5% gain in the third quarter. For 2025 as a whole, business investment was 3.5% higher than in 2024. Meanwhile, overall gross fixed capital formation slipped by 0.1% quarter-on-quarter but was up 3.6% year-on-year.