Prime Minister Andy Burnham has claimed that Britain is the joint fastest growing economy in the G7, but detailed analysis of the International Monetary Fund's latest forecasts reveals the UK actually ranks third among the world's advanced economies. Speaking to Good Morning Britain on Monday, Mr Burnham stated that the IMF said recently Britain was the fastest growing in the G7, joint. He made a similar claim at Prime Minister's Questions the previous week, saying the IMF's report showed Britain as the joint fastest growing country in the G7.
The IMF's World Economic Outlook forecasts placed the UK level with Germany when figures are rounded to one decimal place, behind the US. However, the unrounded data from the IMF's data explorer site tells a different story. According to these precise predictions, the UK's growth of around 1.27% in 2026 will be slightly lower than Germany's 1.32%, placing the UK economy in third position among G7 nations. The US is forecast to grow by 2.3% in 2026, the fastest in the group, followed by Germany and the UK both rounded to 1.3%, then Canada on 1.1%, Italy on 0.8%, Japan on 0.7% and France on 0.4%.
There is, however, separate evidence supporting stronger recent UK performance. Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development showed the UK's economic growth in the first half of 2026 was the fastest in the G7. The UK economy grew around 0.641% in the first quarter and 0.533% in the second quarter, totalling 1.174% for the first half of the year. The US recorded growth of around 0.617% and 0.550% respectively, showing total growth of 1.168% in the first half. When rounded to one decimal place, both economies recorded 1.2% growth, making them joint fastest in the G7 for that period.
For UK savers, borrowers, business owners and investors, the contrast between different forecasts and time periods creates uncertainty about the strength of Britain's economic position relative to other major developed economies. The IMF also forecasts for 2027, predicting the US will again lead at 2.3% growth, followed by Canada on 1.7%, the UK on 1.2%, Germany on 1.1%, Japan and France both on 0.7%, and Italy on 0.6%.