PwC comments on S&P Global UK PMI data - April 2026

Commenting on the S&P Global Flash UK PMI data for April 2026, Jake Finney, Senior Economist at PwC, says:

“The April PMI offered a surprising degree of reassurance that the economy has so far been relatively resilient to developments in the Middle East. Against expectations, the composite Index remained comfortably above the key 50 threshold suggesting the economy is still expanding, albeit at a slower pace than a couple of months ago.

“That resilience may prove temporary. Some of the recent strength in activity appears to reflect firms bringing forward purchases to get ahead of possible price rises and supply disruptions, rather than a genuine improvement in underlying demand.

“At the same time, price pressures are intensifying. Last month’s rise in input costs has now been accompanied by higher output price inflation, suggesting that firms are starting to pass those costs on rather than treating them as a temporary shock. If growth weakens in the coming months while inflation continues to rise, the Bank of England will face an increasingly difficult trade off.”