UK manufacturing delivers productivity boost

Analysis by FourJaw, an AMRC spin-out that develops machine monitoring software, shows that this productivity boost was worth £9.4bn to UK manufacturers and continued a run of improved manufacturing output and productivity going back to 2021.

The total value of UK manufacturing output in the third quarter of 2023 was £152.4bn. Although this was £9.3bn more than the same period in 2022, it was £2.9bn lower than Q2 2023, representing the first quarter-on-quarter reduction in manufacturing output since the start of 2021.

Year-on-year improvements in output and productivity were achieved despite the number of active UK manufacturers falling from 138,000 to 136,000 in the same period. Output per manufacturer increased by eight per cent between Q3 2022 and Q3 2023, while productivity per manufacturer was up 8.2 per cent. On average, each active UK manufacturer produced goods worth £1.12m in Q3 2023, up from £1.04m the year before.

The motor vehicles and transport equipment sector achieved the most significant year-on-year improvements. Output in Q3 2023 was £5.3bn higher than in Q3 2022, supported by a 19.7 per cent increase in productivity worth £5.1bn.