UK 'still a manufacturing nation', says ONS

Despite the number of workers employed falling significantly since the late 1970s, total manufacturing output is now actually slightly higher, the ONS said. "It has declined in relative size, though, as other sectors have grown more quickly. Its share has fallen from 36 per cent of the economy in 1948 to around 10 per cent in 2013." Speaking at an event for business and government in London today (Wednesday), ONS' chief economist, Joe Grice, will present analysis showing that productivity in the manufacturing industry has risen by around 2.8% a year since 1948, compared with 1.5% in the service industry. While only 8% of UK jobs are now in manufacturing, compared with 25% in 1978, today's workers are significantly better skilled and more experienced. "The manufacturing industry has changed markedly over the past 60 years," said Grice. "It is becoming more productive, despite a steady fall in the number of people employed and broadly stable capital stock, and economic downturns in the 1970s, early 1990s, and notably 2008-9." He added: "There are several factors at work: a better quality and more skilled workforce; a shift from the production of low to high productivity goods; an improvement in the information technology base; more investment in research and development and a more integrated global economy. "Exporting firms generally are associated with higher productivity and foreign-owned firms in the UK generally experience higher productivity than domestic firms The Changing Shape of UK Manufacturing is a joint initiative by ONS and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to look at how manufacturing has changed in the UK and what current trends tell us about these changes. Findings from ONS' research showed that manufacturing productivity has grown by 2.8% on average per annum since 1948 – compared to 1.5% in the services industry. It also revealed that the number of jobs have reduced across all manufacturing sub-industries since 1978, a portion of which could be attributed to outsourcing. The fall in jobs in textiles have been particularly strong - with a reduction of over 80% between 1979 and 2013. Jobs in the wood and paper sub-industry have been the most resilient of the manufacturing sub-industries, falling 40%.