Dashboard

This panel shows how much physical manufacturing output the UK produces over time, using the national accounts Index of Production for the manufacturing sector (SIC section C).

The numbers are a chained-volume index: the base year is set to 100, and other quarters show output relative to that baseline. A higher value means more output than the base period, before allowing for price changes.

This is not the cash value of production, not employment, and not exports. The chart can show the published index level or quarter-on-quarter percentage change derived from that same index.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes the Index of Production using the UK Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007). Each line is a manufacturing activity — what firms produce — not who buys it (consumer vs business) or why (for example defence).

That is why you will not see labels like “consumer goods” or “defence” as separate series: those ideas cut across several industries or are not how national accounts classify output.

The eleven groupings here are the main manufacturing sub-aggregates we pull from the DIOP dataset (chained volume, seasonally adjusted). Each index is rebased like the headline manufacturing index; lines are not weighted shares of the sector and should not be added together to imply a total.

Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) measures spending on fixed assets such as machinery, equipment, and buildings used in production. Here it is limited to private-sector manufacturing.

Figures are in chained-volume terms (£ million), so trends reflect real investment rather than nominal pounds, and are seasonally adjusted where the source series is SA.

The data come from ONS business investment by industry and asset (CXNV). The chart can show the level in £ million or quarter-on-quarter percentage change from the same series.

Labour productivity here means output per hour worked in manufacturing (SIC section C). It links how much is produced with how many hours were used to produce it.

ONS publishes an index with 2023 = 100 for the level, and separate series for year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter percentage changes. All come from the labour productivity time series (PRDY).

Higher productivity can reflect better technology, skills, or capital, or changes in the mix of products. It does not by itself say whether workers are better off—that also depends on pay, hours, and prices.

The Producer Price Index (PPI) for manufacturing output measures changes in the prices UK producers receive for goods they sell at the factory gate (before retail margins and taxes consumers see).

It is not the Consumer Prices Index (CPI): PPI tracks producer selling prices; CPI tracks prices households pay for a basket of goods and services.

Movements reflect nominal price pressures in manufacturing. A rising index means, on average, manufacturers’ output prices are higher than in the base period.

Workforce jobs are an estimate of filled jobs in the economy. The manufacturing series counts jobs in SIC section C, on a seasonally adjusted basis where published.

Jobs are a headcount-style concept (one person with two jobs can count twice). They can move differently from hours worked, output, or productivity.

Use this panel alongside output and productivity: for example, output can rise while jobs fall if productivity improves.

This line is the balance-of-payments (BOP) measure of UK exports of goods to the world, in chained-volume terms (£ million), seasonally adjusted.

It is compiled within the national accounts framework. Administrative trade statistics (for example HMRC declarations) can differ in coverage and timing.

The chart shows the total for goods exports, not services. Compare with the SITC breakdown panel for broad commodity groups within goods.

These lines split goods exports into broad Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) style groups using ONS merchandise trade (MRET) series tied to the balance of payments.

Each series is chained-volume exports (£ million), seasonally adjusted, on the same broad BOP goods basis as the headline total—not company-level trade data.

The groups are high level (for example food, fuels, machinery). They help show which parts of goods trade are moving, but they are not exhaustive fine product detail.

Gross value added (GVA) is a measure of the value generated in production. Here it is shown for manufacturing (or production sectors as labelled in the source) for selected UK sub-regions, on an annual basis.

Figures are workplace-based: they are allocated to where work happens, not necessarily where workers live. Units and exact coverage follow the ONS regional accounts (RAGV) series used in the snapshot.

This is not a full map of every nation or local authority—only the regions included in the chart. Levels across regions are not directly comparable without understanding differences in industry mix and definitions.

This is an approximate count of UK companies that Companies House classifies as active and that match a partitioned list of UK SIC 2007 manufacturing codes, queried through the Companies House API (advanced search).

Each batch uses a subset of codes; totals are summed across batches. The list may not cover every manufacturing subclass, and matching uses the company’s primary SIC as returned by the API.

The number is indicative for dashboard context, not a definitive census of all manufacturers. Without an API key, the snapshot may show a placeholder rather than a live total.