Bloomberg: AI drives about a quarter of UK economic growth this year

According to a report by IT Home on November 11, 2026, citing economists at Bloomberg Economics, artificial intelligence has driven roughly a quarter of the United Kingdom's economic growth this year. AI-related economic activity, ranging from data center construction to AI model development, contributed 0.45 percentage points to UK growth in 2026. A Bloomberg Economics report released on Wednesday estimates the UK economy will expand about 1.8 percent overall this year, which would mean AI-related sectors account for about a quarter of that increase.

Ana Andrade, an economist at Bloomberg Economics, said the technology is injecting growth momentum into the UK economy. The report notes that the contribution so far comes mainly from the production and development of AI technology itself, rather than from widespread adoption across industries. Andrade added that as AI is deployed more broadly, the gains are expected to show up gradually as productivity improvements across sectors. The report also cautions that the UK's exposure to the recent sell-off in AI-related stocks depends on how the market correction unfolds, whether it becomes a disorderly decline similar to a financial crisis or a relatively smooth, orderly repricing. It further notes that a sharp pullback in global AI-related asset valuations could pose risks to the UK economy.