Manufacturing industries: Economic indicators

Economic indicators are quick-read summaries of the latest data focusing on different aspects of the UK economy. The full suite of indicators can be found on the main Economic Indicators page.

Manufacturing is one of the production industries, which also include mining, electricity, water & waste management and oil & gas extraction.

From January to March 2026, the latest quarterly data available, the manufacturing sector accounted for 8.5% of total UK economic output (GVA).

Manufacturing Output

Monthly manufacturing output increased by 0.4% in April 2026. Output increased in eight of the 13 subsectors.

Manufacturing output increased by 0.6% in the three months to April 2026 compared with the previous three months.

Output in the three months to April 2026 increased by 0.5% compared with output in the same period the previous year.

Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)

In the S&P Global PMI, a value of 50 means that there is no change compared to the previous month. Values above 50 indicate an expansion, and values below 50 a contraction.

The UK manufacturing PMI [PDF] for May 2026 was 53.9, up slightly from 53.7 in April. The PMI has remained above 50.0 for seven successive months.

In May, all five parts of the PMI, namely new orders, output, employment, suppliers’ delivery times and stocks of purchases, pointed to improving business conditions. This was the first time this has happened since May 2022.

Next updates

This page is updated when new data is published. The next source updates will be:

• ONS, Index of Production, 16 July 2026

• S&P Global, UK Manufacturing PMI, 23 June 2026