A new report from the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) has found that general manufacturing makes up almost a quarter (23 per cent) of the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP), more than double the figure that is often quoted in the news.
The study also found that 48 per cent of UK exports are manufactured goods, while manufacturers make up almost 70 per cent of the total spend in research and development investment.
Manufacturing productivity was also found to be £67,000 a year (above the UK average of £56,700), while the median wage in the industry is £27,400… which means that manufacturing employees take home on average 19 per cent more than other workers.
CEO of the MTA James Selka commented on the findings, saying that the industry has created “a wealth that is irreplaceable” and as such, it’s essential that government policies do all they can to promote and grow the industry.
He explained that there is a chance to drive productivity levels up further through the Industrial Strategy and help the economy grow. Exportation can also be boosted by encouraging investment in the sector so that new technologies like artificial intelligence, big data and additive manufacturing can be taken advantage of.
“This report clearly demonstrates that anyone who says that manufacturing doesn’t matter much to the UK’s economy is badly mistaken. The figures that people often quote setting manufacturing alongside the service sector miss the point that a huge part of the service sector – from logistics, to research, to catering – serves manufacturing.
“The impact is felt far outside factory gates in offices, laboratories, shops and warehouses right across the country. For every £1 million the manufacturing sector contributes to GDP itself, it creates another £1.5 million elsewhere in the UK economy and for every direct job within the sector, another 1.8 are supported elsewhere in the UK economy,” Mr Selka went on to add.
However, new figures from the Office for National Statistics have just revealed that output in the manufacturing sector fell 0.2 per cent unexpectedly in February, the first drop in nearly a year and down from the revised growth of zero for January.
The ONS put this down to falls in oil refining and electrical appliance manufacturing. While output from the sector did climb by 2.5 per cent year on year, economists had predicted this to be 3.3 per cent higher, the BBC reports.
Analysing the stats, the news source’s business correspondent Jonty Bloom observed that it’s possible these figures could be a “blip” of some kind because the sector has been seeing “strong growth” for quite some time now… commentary that may well prove heartening for those in the industry to hear right now.
Trade figures, Mr Bloom went on, are more encouraging but in the last three months the deficit between exports and imports widened, down to a fall in exports to nations outside the EU.