The UK economy lost momentum at the beginning of the third quarter and stagnated in July.

Gross domestic product (GDP) stagnated compared to the previous month, the National Statistics Office (ONS) announced in London on Friday. Analysts had generally expected this. In June, gross domestic product had increased by 0.4 percent month-on-month.

One reason for the weaker development is a significant decline in industrial production. This fell by 0.9 percent month-on-month, according to the statistics office. In the previous month, June, it had risen by 0.7 percent. Analysts were surprised by the weak industrial production. They had expected stagnation.