GDP increased by 0.2% for the month, following a fall of 0.3% in March 2023, despite ongoing strike disruption, high inflation and rising interest rates, showed Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.

The services sector grew by 0.3% in April, following a fall of 0.5% in the previous month, with growth seen in 10 of the 14-sub sectors.

Of this, the largest contributor to the rise in services was wholesale and retail, followed by information and communication, accommodation and hospitality.

In contrast, the largest negative contributing sub-sector was health and social work activities, which fell by 0.9% in April 2023.