Artificial intelligence has added only about 0.5 per cent to UK productivity over the past three years, the Bank of England has found.

The finding comes from the Bank's November 2026 Monetary Policy Report, published on 5 November. It works out to just 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points of extra productivity growth a year since early 2024. "AI investment appears to be contributing somewhat to current demand strength, but so far there is only evidence of a modest AI-driven rise in UK productivity growth," the Bank said.

Even sectors best placed to benefit have little to boast about. Productivity growth has improved in AI-heavy industries such as information and communications, but has yet to rise above pre-pandemic averages.

Selling AI, not using it

The Bank estimates that AI-related activity has accounted for just under a fifth of UK GDP growth since the start of 2026. But most of that comes from companies building and selling AI technology, rather than from businesses becoming more productive by using it.

"The contribution to growth from AI to date appears to reflect activity in the upstream development and implementation of AI technologies rather than broader gains from their adoption elsewhere in the economy," the report said.

The Bank also found AI has had close to no overall effect on UK employment so far: firms are less likely to hire or replace leavers, but no more likely to make workers redundant.

Businesses surveyed still expect AI to add around 0.9 percentage points to annual productivity growth over the next three years, though the Bank and the IMF have warned heavy AI spending could hurt investors if promised profits fail to arrive.