UK manufacturing output increases in Q3 despite smaller workforce
Published: 20 November, 2024
A smaller workforce helped UK manufacturers produce goods and materials worth £150.9 billion in the third quarter of 2024, according to an analysis of ONS data by FourJaw Manufacturing Analytics. This was £1.9 billion more than in Q3 2023, an increase of 1.2%.
FourJaw’s analysis, which informs its UK Manufacturing Productivity Index, reveals that the value of output produced this summer was 1.2% lower than Q2 2024. Much of this was due to a 0.7% decline in the price of goods leaving factories in September. Adjusting for price fluctuations shows that Q3 2024 production levels were broadly similar to Q2.
With more manufacturers operating today than in 2023, output per manufacturer was down 0.3% year-on-year. However, this output came from 25,000 fewer workers. Output per manufacturing employee has increased by 2.2% over the last year.
Subsector Output and Productivity
• Food manufacturing continues to pick up pace. The value of food production increased by 6.4% year-on-year to £26.5 billion in Q3 2024, in part due to productivity gains worth an estimated £1.5 billion.
• Coke & refined petroleum products declined by 1.2% between Q2 and Q3 2024 but remained 10.0% ahead of what the industry produced in Q3 2023. This sector is estimated to have achieved productivity gains worth £224 million in the last year.
• The output value from UK chemicals & pharmaceutical manufacturers was 0.8% higher in Q3 2024 than in Q3 2023, despite significant downward pressure on prices over the last year. This sector is 2.0% more productive than a year ago, improvements worth £197 million, despite a 4.2% quarter-on-quarter decline in output value during Q3.
• Output in the motor vehicles & transport equipment industries increased by 1.1% year-on-year, totalling £312 billion in Q3 2024. However, this was 5.0% down on Q2 2024.
• Metals, metal products & machinery output in Q3 2024 was down 6.3% year-on-year, a decline of £758 million.
Chris Iveson, CEO at FourJaw Manufacturing Analytics, comments: “The latest manufacturing data has some aspects to be proud of. Manufacturing output and productivity are up compared to last year despite global economic uncertainty and businesses delaying investment decisions pending the general election. There are more manufacturers in the UK than a year ago, and while they would like to be busier, data indicates the industry is leaner and more efficient, producing more with a smaller workforce.”
https://www.linkedin.com/company/fourjaw/
