Facebook posts share inaccurate claim about IMF growth projections
What was claimed
The IMF forecast that Britain will have the fastest growing economy in Europe.
Our verdict
False. IMF figures show several European countries are projected to have higher GDP growth than the UK in 2025 and 2026. The UK economy is forecast to be the fastest growing among European countries in the G7.
Posts on Facebook have repeated an inaccurate claim that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast that the UK will have the fastest growing economy in Europe.
One of the posts says: “who didn’t have a quiet chuckle in the corner this week when the IMF forecasted that Britain will have the fastest growing economy in Europe?” and includes a screenshot of a post on X (formerly Twitter) sharing a link to an article published by the Independent which makes this claim in its headline.
But as we wrote last week when we first fact checked this claim, this isn’t what the latest IMF projections show, and the Independent has since updated its headline.
Figures published by the IMF in January project the UK’s GDP to increase by 1.6% in 2025 and 1.5% in 2026, but project that both Spain (2.3% and 1.8%) and Poland (3.5% and 3.3%) will have higher GDP growth in both years, while the Netherlands will have similar GDP growth in 2025 (1.6%) and higher growth in 2026 (1.8%).
Join 74,000 newsletter subscribers who trust us to check the facts
Sign up to get weekly updates on politics, immigration, health and more.
Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.
It is true however that the IMF projects the UK will have higher GDP growth in 2025 and 2026 than the other European members of the G7 (Germany, France and Italy). This was reflected in comments from the chancellor Rachel Reeves, who said: “The UK is forecast to be the fastest growing major European economy over the next two years”.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because the IMF projects several European countries will have higher GDP growth than the UK in 2025 and 2026.
Was this helpful?
Full Fact fights for good, reliable information in the media, online, and in politics.