Report: The True Impact of UK Manufacturing

The MTA launched its latest ‘True Impact of Manufacturing Report’ at MACH 2024, the UK’s national event for inspiring, innovating and connecting manufacturing, held at the NEC Birmingham.

The report reveals the significant positive impact that manufacturing is having on the UK economy, which is far greater than first thought.

This report, an update to the one published by the MTA in 2018, assesses the economic impacts on manufacturing from extraordinary factors such as the pandemic, Brexit, unprecedented increases in energy costs and global supply chain fragility and international conflicts.

Key findings of MTA report:

Manufacturing accounts for £518 billion of UK GDP and supports 7.3 million jobs
In 2022, the manufacturing sector directly contributed to 8.2% of UK GDP.
In 2022, manufacturing employment made up 7.3% of the UK’s total employment.
‘Making things’ accounts for 34.5% of all UK goods and services exports
In 2022, the manufacturing sector directly contributed £184 billion in gross value added to the UK economy.
Median wage in manufacturing is 11% above the national average.
In 2022, the average manufacturing GVA per job was £75,000. This is 33% higher than the average GVA per job for the whole economy (£56,000).
Manufacturing productivity surpassed that of the whole economy in 2004 and productivity has continued to grow at a faster rate than that of the whole economy.
In 2022, businesses investment made by the manufacturing sector amounted to 15% of total business investment. Given that manufacturing accounts for a significantly smaller share of the economy (8.2%), this means that the manufacturing sector is considerably more investment intensive than average.

The report provide an extremely comprehensive overview of what we make, the complex nature of our supply chains and the economic benefit gained from the spending of wages by those employed in our sector.

Download the report now and expand your knowledge on the direct, indirect, and induced impacts of manufacturing.

Read the full report here

The True Impact of British Manufacturing

The Manufacturing Technologies Association exists to promote the interests, and be the voice, of the manufacturing technologies sector in the UK and is the UK’s trade association for companies in the manufacturing technology sector. Members design, manufacture and supply the advanced machinery, equipment and intellectual property that enable the creation of the products we rely on from day to day and that drive our economy.