ONS Production Output Report: January 2026
This summary is based on information from the Office for National Statistics’ Index of Production, UK: November 2025, highlighting recent trends in the UK’s production industries, including manufacturing, mining and quarrying, energy supply, and water and waste management.
Monthly Performance Analysis
In November 2025, the UK’s monthly production output was estimated to have increased by 1.1%, following a rise in October 2025 (1.3%) and a fall in September 2025 (1.4%).
The rise in monthly output resulted solely from growth within “manufacturing” (2.1%). This was partially offset by weakness in “mining and quarrying”, “electricity and gas” and “water supply and sewerage”, falling by 2.5%, 0.5%, and 0.6% respectively.
7 of the 13 manufacturing subsectors saw a monthly increase in November 2025. The largest contribution came from “manufacture of transport equipment”, rising by 10.7%.
Three-monthly Trends
During the three months to November 2025, production output was estimated to have fallen by 0.1%, compared to the three months to August 2025.
The largest negative contribution to the three-month decrease came from “manufacturing” (0.3%), supported by “mining and quarrying” (1%). This was partially offset by increases in ‘electricity and gas’, and ‘water supply and sewerage’, which were 1.1% and 0.4% respectively.
During the three months to November 2025, 7 of the 13 subsectors in “manufacturing” fell. This fall mainly came from ‘transport equipment’ (9.4%), more specifically “motor vehicles” (18.9%).
The decrease in the three months to November 2025 for “manufacture of motor vehicles” is mainly driven by the 29.5% fall in September, reflecting the impact of a cyber incident. Since then, the industry has shown signs of recovery closer to its August 2025 level. Monthly growths of 9.6% and 25.5% were shown in October and November 2025, respectively.
UK production output increased by 1.1% in November 2025, driven entirely by a strong rise in manufacturing, particularly transport equipment. However, despite consecutive monthly growth, output fell by 0.1% over the three months to November, reflecting continued weakness in manufacturing, especially motor vehicle production, following significant disruption earlier in the quarter, partly offset by growth in energy and water sectors.
Source: Index of Production, UK – Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
