Thriving or Surviving? The Manufacturing Sector Health Check - September 2025

Enginuity’s monthly Manufacturing Sector Health Check pulls together the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data to track the performance of UK manufacturing, covering GDP, jobs, pay, exports, and production. 

The latest figures from the ONS are in, and a variety of external factors may have impacted the outlook for September 2025. The question: are we thriving, or surviving? 

GDP (for July 2025) 

Manufacturing GDP for July has dropped 1.4 points, to 100.5 – UK GDP as a whole dropped 0.1 points. 

The largest-growing manufacturing sub-sectors were manufacture of soft drinks, production of mineral water and other bottled waters (4.6%), manufacture of electrical equipment (3.2%) and manufacture of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products (2.2%).

Employment and Vacancies (for August 2025) 

The number of paid employees in the manufacturing sector fell by ~8,200, which represents a decline of 0.4%. By comparison, the UK lost 7,000 paid employees, a drop of 0.03%. 

Manufacturing vacancies remained static in August, whereas the UK experienced a 1.1% increase, or 8,000 vacancies. 

Year on year, there has been a drop of almost a quarter (24.2%) in manufacturing vacancies, compared to a 13.9% decline for all sectors. 

Wages and Payroll (for July 2025) 

Manufacturing mean pay rose by 0.4% to £3,646, while the UK overall saw a 0.8% increase to £3,375.

UK aggregate pay rose 0.8% to £102.28B per month, while the manufacturing sector experienced a smaller increase of 0.3% to £8.43B. 

Exports and Production (for July 2025)

Exports decreased by 1% in July 2025 

The manufacturing sub-sectors with the largest export growth this month were: 

• Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations (23.5%)
• Manufacture of dyestuffs, argo-chemicals (9.4%)

UK Production Values 

The largest growth in production value this month came from: 

• Manufacture of wearing apparel (18.6%)
• Manufacture of soft drinks, production of mineral water and other bottled waters (12.8%)
• Manufacture of leather and related products (12.0%)

Our take on this month’s figures 

The manufacturing sector experienced a significant 1.4 point drop in GDP in July, indicating a contraction of the sector.

The number of paid manufacturing employees is falling at a greater rate than the UK as a whole, showing a concerning contraction of the sector. When will the negative trend stop?

August has seen no movement in vacancies from the previous month, and wages have returned to showing an increase, however, it's only a third of the national rate. Aggregate pay for the sector has increased in July, but the increase is half of the national increase.

Some sectors are showing strong export and production growth supported by demand at home.

Do all these indicators point to a manufacturing sector that is Surviving rather than Thriving?

At Enginuity, we know that timely insights and accurate data are vital to driving change. By providing these updates, we aim to help employers, educators, and policymakers make informed decisions, ensuring skills, innovation, and opportunity stay aligned with the sector’s evolving needs.