People walk outside the Bank of England building in London, Britain, April 14, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso/ File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) -British output per hour worked in the three months to June was 0.8% lower than a year earlier, the steepest annual decline since the third quarter of 2024, official figures showed on Thursday.

Weak productivity growth has been a problem for Britain and many other Western economies for years and has become somewhat more sluggish since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Britain's Office for National Statistics said output per hour worked in the second quarter of 2025 was 1.5% higher than in 2019. Output per worker has risen just 1.1% since then.

(Reporting by David MillikenEditing by William Schomberg)