ONS Updates Real-Time UK Economy Dashboard With Weekly Indicators

The Office for National Statistics has refreshed its interactive economic dashboard, showing potential UK redundancies fell 10 per cent year-on-year in the week to 19 July 2026, while retail footfall dipped 1 per cent in the week to 26 July.

The figures show potential redundancies — tracked via Insolvency Service HR1 forms — were 10 per cent lower than the previous week and 10 per cent lower compared with the equivalent week in 2025, according to the ONS Economic activity and social change real-time indicators dashboard, updated on 30 July 2026. Retail footfall across the UK fell 1 per cent week-on-week and 1 per cent year-on-year in the week to 26 July 2026.

Both readings come with a firm caveat. ONS describes the entire dashboard as “official statistics in development” using “experimental methods”, meaning the numbers are subject to ongoing evaluation and revision — they’re not comparable to headline measures like GDP or official labour market statistics.

For Kent councils, business groups and analysts, the dashboard offers the closest thing available to a real-time economic pulse. Bodies such as Kent County Council, Medway Council and the Kent & Medway Economic Partnership can use the redundancy and footfall series to monitor short-term pressures — though no Kent-specific breakdowns are published, so local users need to cross-reference with their own administrative data to build a county-level picture.

The dashboard groups its indicators into four categories: consumer behaviour, business and workforce, energy and housing, and transport. It draws on rapid response surveys, big data, administrative data and experimental estimates. From 26 March 2026, ONS replaced its previous weekly bulletin with the interactive dashboard format, retaining a monthly statistical bulletin for deeper commentary — the most recent of which was published on 23 July 2026.

The Real Time Indicators team at ONS invites feedback at realtime.indicators@ons.gov.uk.

Key information

• Feedback on the dashboard: Contact the ONS Real Time Indicators team at realtime.indicators@ons.gov.uk
• Monthly bulletin: ONS publishes a fuller Economic activity and social change in the UK bulletin each month — the latest was released on 23 July 2026
• Experimental status: All indicators are classed as “official statistics in development” and should not be treated as definitive economic measures