Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect real GDP per capita to return to its pre-pandemic peak; and what steps they are taking to support this growth.

Achieving sustained economic growth is the priority mission of this government. The government is focused on fixing the foundations of the UK’s economy.

Having launched the Growth Mission in July 2024, the government has already taken several steps including planning reforms to get Britain building, establishing the National Wealth Fund, announcing a Pensions Review, and launching Skills England. The government is under no illusion of the scale of the challenge, however, given the difficult economic inheritance.

HM Treasury does not prepare formal forecasts for the UK economy, which are the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). In its March forecast, the OBR expects that GDP per capita will surpass its pre-pandemic peak in 2025. Further details can be found in Table 1.5 of the OBR’s latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook published in March 2024: https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2024/.