“The UK's growth rates are higher than those of European competitors.” — Nigel Farage. Our verdict: True.
Nigel Farage made the claim on 27 October 2026, in comments reported by Metro after a speech in a half-empty hall.
Our verdict
True
Nigel Farage said the UK's growth rates are higher than those of European competitors. Official figures for the second quarter of 2026 back this up: the UK grew faster than Germany, France and Italy.
What we found
We found the claim to be accurate. The Office for National Statistics reports that UK GDP grew by 0.5% in the second quarter of 2026. A parliamentary briefing based on OECD data shows Germany grew by 0.3% and France by 0.0% over the same period, while Italy's national statistics office, ISTAT, puts Italian growth at 0.2%. On those figures, the UK's quarterly growth was higher than all three of its largest European competitors. We found no evidence pointing the other way.
The evidence
5 of 6 sources support the claim; none contradict it.
- Background
Metro reported that Nigel Farage said on 27 October 2026 that UK growth rates are higher than those of European competitors. [1]
- Supports the claim
The Office for National Statistics' first quarterly estimate put UK GDP growth at 0.5% in the second quarter of 2026. [2]
- Supports the claim
A parliamentary briefing on international GDP comparisons shows UK growth of 0.5% in the second quarter of 2026, above Germany's 0.3% and France's 0.0%. [3]
- Supports the claim
Italy's national statistics office, ISTAT, reports Italian GDP growth of 0.2% in the second quarter of 2026, below the UK's figure. [4]
- Supports the claim
The Office for National Statistics' quarterly national accounts confirm UK growth of 0.5% in the second quarter of 2026. [5]
- Supports the claim
The Office for National Statistics' GDP overview page also gives UK growth of 0.5% quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter of 2026. [6]
What we could not confirm
- The comparison covers only the second quarter of 2026. Monthly figures, such as the UK's 0.7% growth in August 2026, are not directly comparable across countries.
- The Italy comparison comes from putting together separate UK and Italian sources rather than one shared dataset.
- No figures were checked for European competitors other than Germany, France and Italy.
- Full-year 2026 forecasts for the UK were not available, so we could not compare them with Italy's projected annual growth of 0.8%.
How we checked
We looked at the original news report of the claim and at official growth figures from the Office for National Statistics, a parliamentary briefing on international comparisons, and Italy's national statistics office. We reviewed 8 relevant sources.
Sources
- [1]metro.co.uk · Nigel Farage lashes out at Reform 'incompetence' after speech in half-empty hall · October 27, 2026
- [2]ons.gov.uk · GDP first quarterly estimate, UK: April to June 2026 - Office for National Statistics · August 13, 2026
- [3]commonslibrary.parliament.uk · GDP international comparisons: Economic indicators
- [4]istat.it · SEPTEMBER 10th 2026 · September 10, 2026
- [5]ons.gov.uk · GDP quarterly national accounts, UK - Office for National Statistics · September 30, 2026
- [6]ons.gov.uk · Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - Office for National Statistics · September 30, 2026
- [7]Photo: Diliff / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Have evidence we missed?
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