Bloomberg estimates AI contributed a quarter of UK economic growth this year

Bloomberg Economics researchers have calculated that artificial intelligence accounted for approximately 0.45 percentage points of the UK's economic expansion in 2026, contributing to the nation's overall growth of about 1.8%. This finding suggests that a significant downturn in global AI asset valuations could pose risks to the UK economy. Ana Andrade, an economist from Bloomberg Economics, stated that the technology is providing a growth impetus to the UK economy. The report details that the assessment encompassed various economic activities, including data center construction, AI model and application development, computational hardware manufacturing, and cloud computing services. Currently, the impact on the UK economy stems primarily from the production and research of AI technology rather than its widespread integration across the entire economic system. Andrade noted that as AI becomes more broadly adopted, the resulting benefits are expected to gradually manifest as productivity gains across different industries. The report also highlighted that the extent of the impact from recent AI stock sell-offs depends on whether the market adjustment settles into a disorderly decline or a more orderly revaluation.