UK manufacturers experience productivity boost in 2023

According to the analysis, this is an 8.6 per cent increase on 2022 levels and includes multi-billion-pound improvements in automotive and food production output.

FourJaw found that the total value of UK manufacturing output reached £615bn in 2023. The end of the year was particularly strong, with manufacturers producing goods worth £155bn in the final quarter.

The total value of UK manufacturing output in the fourth quarter of 2023 was £3.5bn more than the same period in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 2.5 per cent, and £2.2bn more than in Q3 2023.

Output per manufacturer increased by 1.2 per cent between Q4 2022 and Q4 2023, while productivity per manufacturer was up one per cent. On average, each active UK manufacturer produced goods worth £1.13m in Q4 2023, up from £1.10m in 2022. Additionally, output per employee was up two per cent year-on-year.

The motor vehicles and transport equipment sector continued to deliver year-on-year improvements, producing £3.9bn more output in Q4 2023 than in Q4 2022, supported by a 12.40 per cent productivity increase worth £3.8bn.