LONDON, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Britain's monthly real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.1 percent in May amid a mild rise of the services industry, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Thursday.

A woman walks past a M&S supermarket with Wimbledon-themed decorations, on day three of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in the Wimbledon neighborhood of London, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (Photo: AP)

The figure followed a fall of 0.1 percent in April, and a rise of 0.3 percent in March, according to the ONS.

Specifically, the services industry saw a growth of 0.3 percent in May, while the production and construction industries recorded falls of 0.5 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

In the three months to May, UK's real GDP is estimated to have grown by 0.7 percent compared with the three months to February, the data also showed.

Stuart Morrison, research manager at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said that the latest ONS data shows a fragile economy weighed down by geopolitical tensions and domestic cost pressures, citing the remarkable gap of GDP growth between the March-May period and May alone.

The Middle-East conflict "is having real-world consequences for UK firms. Rising energy prices and shipping disruption are increasing costs and creating uncertainty across the economy," he said, adding that government-imposed costs on a typical small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) have risen by more than 70 percent in just 10 years, citing BCC analysis.

BCC's latest SME survey shows SMEs' investment plans are at their weakest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Anna Leach, chief economist at the Institute of Directors (IoD), said IoD's data showed that businesses are grappling with sharply rising costs and diminished prospects for revenue growth in an environment in which uncertainty is becoming normalized.

"Unfortunately, the actions business leaders are taking to increase business resilience are dragging on broader activity, investment and hiring. Meanwhile government policy activity is adding to business uncertainty, rather than alleviating it," she said.