UK production output rises 0.3% in September as manufacturing offsets water and energy falls

UK production output rose 0.3% in September, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday, with manufacturing leading the gain as water and energy output both fell.

The monthly rise follows a 0.7% increase in August, revised down from an earlier 0.8%, and a 0.1% fall in July, first reported as a 0.3% rise.

Manufacturing grew 0.7% in September and mining and quarrying rose 1.4%, in an index that measures output in volume terms, with the effect of price changes removed.

Water supply and sewerage fell 1.7% and electricity and gas dropped 0.3%, partly offsetting the gains elsewhere in the production industries.

Inside manufacturing, seven of the 13 subsectors increased output, with food products, beverages and tobacco making the largest positive contribution after a 2.9% rise.

Six subsectors fell, and the largest negative contribution came from basic metal and metal products, where output dropped 2.1% during the month.

Over the longer period, production in July to September was 0.1% higher than in April to June, following a 0.1% fall in the second quarter.

The three months to August had been reported as 0.2% lower than the three months to May, so the quarterly picture is slightly firmer than the earlier estimate suggested.

Manufacturing was the only main sector to add to quarterly output, up 0.9%, while electricity and gas fell 2.1%, water supply and sewerage 1.5%, and mining and quarrying 2.2%.

Eight of the 13 manufacturing subsectors grew in the quarter, led by computer, electronic and optical products, up 4.6%, while rubber and plastics products fell 2.0%.

The ONS also revised earlier months, cutting July’s overall monthly growth by 0.4 percentage points and August’s by 0.1 points, which accounts for the changes to both figures.

The earlier August estimate had shown manufacturing up 1.2%, with basic pharmaceutical products up 5.1%, a rise that contributed over half of that month’s manufacturing growth.

The production figures came out on the same day as the ONS’s first quarterly GDP estimate for July to September, with the next GDP release due on 22 December 2026.

The ONS has also merged coal and lignite mining with crude petroleum and natural gas extraction in its time series, a change introduced with Blue Book 2026.

For wider context, UK manufacturers’ product sales were £452.0bn in 2025, down £8.3bn, or 1.8%, from £460.3bn in 2024, with food the largest division at 22.9% of sales.

The September estimate rests on survey returns covering 75.1% of forms and 87.8% of turnover in the sample, and the ONS says the figures carry sampling variability and other uncertainty.

The series is classed as accredited official statistics, independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation and found to meet standards of “trustworthiness, quality and value”.

The next production figures, covering October, are due on 11 December 2026.