Report highlights significant impact of manufacturing on UK economy

Set to be launched at MACH 2024 in Birmingham, ‘The True Impact of UK Manufacturing’ report shows that the manufacturing industry is worth £518bn and supports 7.3 million UK jobs directly and across the supply chains/communities it operates in.

Carried out by Oxford Economics and the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA), the report also shows that manufacturing accounts for 34.5 per cent of all UK goods and services exports, whilst the median wage is £31,300, which is 11 per cent higher than the national average.

James Selka, MTA’s CEO, is now urging the sector to build on this report by exploring ways in which it can address skills shortages and develop successful programmes, such as the High Value Manufacturing Catapult Centres, to increase wealth creation by commercialising more of the innovations developed in the UK.

“This is a fantastic insight into the true impact of manufacturing in the UK and reinforces what many of us already know – that industry is a far greater contributor to GDP and jobs than listed in national accounts,” Selka said in a statement. “Our report has been designed to take a ‘deeper dive’ and looks at the direct, indirect, and induced impacts of manufacturing, which is a far more comprehensive overview of what we make, the complex nature of our supply chains and the economic benefit gained from the spending of wages by those employed in our sector.”