UK manufacturing workers make productivity gains

These gains were higher than those achieved in any other major manufacturing economy over the same period.

World Bank data show that UK manufacturers delivered net output worth $280bn in 2023 after removing the cost of energy, materials, and other inputs. FourJaw’s analysis, which also draws on OECD workforce data, reveals this equated to $109,000 of added value for each of the UK’s 2.6 million manufacturing workers in 2023. This figure was 15 per cent more than the $95,000 value-add per worker achieved five years earlier.

According to the analysis, Britain’s productivity gains have elevated the value of per-worker manufacturing output above Germany ($106,000), South Korea ($93,000), and Japan ($76,000). These economies continue to produce more than the UK in absolute terms and previously outperformed the UK on per-worker productivity. US manufacturing workers, who delivered net output worth $167,000 each, produced more value more efficiently than their UK counterparts in 2023.