UK production output rose 0.3 per cent in September, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday, after a 0.7 per cent rise in August.
July had seen a fall of 0.1 per cent. The figures are seasonally adjusted and cover manufacturing, mining and quarrying, energy supply, and water and waste management.
Manufacturing rose 0.7 per cent in September and mining and quarrying rose 1.4 per cent. Water supply and sewerage fell 1.7 per cent and electricity and gas fell 0.3 per cent, partly offsetting the gains.
Seven of the 13 manufacturing subsectors increased output in the month. The largest positive contribution came from food products, beverages and tobacco, up 2.9 per cent.
Six subsectors fell, with the largest negative contribution from basic metal and metal products, down 2.1 per cent.
Over the three months from July to September, production output rose 0.1 per cent compared with April to June. That followed a 0.1 per cent fall in the second quarter.
Manufacturing was the only one of the four main sectors to grow over the quarter, up 0.9 per cent. Electricity and gas fell 2.1 per cent, water supply and sewerage fell 1.5 per cent, and mining and quarrying fell 2.2 per cent.
Eight of the 13 manufacturing subsectors grew over the quarter. The largest positive contribution came from computer, electronic and optical products, up 4.6 per cent, while rubber and plastics products, down 2.0 per cent, made the largest negative contribution among the five that fell.
A year earlier the picture was weaker. The ONS’s figures for September 2025 showed monthly output down 2.0 per cent, and a fall of 0.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2025 compared with the second.
Manufacturing was the largest drag in that earlier period, down 0.8 per cent over the quarter. September 2025 had also seen a 28.6 per cent fall in motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers.
The estimates rest on the Monthly Business Survey. The response rate for September 2026 was 75.1 per cent of forms returned, covering 87.8 per cent of total turnover in the sample. A year earlier the equivalent figures were 73.3 per cent and 82.1 per cent.
The ONS said the data are estimates subject to sampling variability and non-sampling error. It also said it found no statistically significant residual seasonality in the aggregate estimates from January 1997 to September 2026.
Following improvements made in Blue Book 2026, the ONS has merged coal and lignite mining with crude petroleum and natural gas extraction in the mining and quarrying time series dataset.
The ONS also no longer publishes chained volume measures for the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats. That industry remains part of the aggregate series for food products.
Food is the largest division of UK manufacturing. Separate ONS figures show it made up 22.9 per cent of manufacturers’ sales in 2025, when total product sales were £452.0 billion, down £8.3 billion from £460.3 billion in 2024.
The figures are accredited official statistics, independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation. The next Index of Production release is due on 11 December 2026.