Thriving or Surviving? The Manufacturing Sector Health Check - August 2026

It’s time for an update on all things manufacturing, as our monthly health check pulls the latest ONS data to see if the sector is thriving or surviving against the wider UK economy.

GDP (for June 2026)

Manufacturing GDP dropped by half a point in June, down to 100.6.

The UK figure rose by three tenths of a point to 103.4.

(Both figures are adjusted from the previous month’s summary.)

These are the three manufacturing sub-sectors that demonstrated the largest growth in the last month:

Sub-sector	Growth
Repair and maintenance of aircraft and spacecraft	5.3%
Manufacture of petrochemicals	4.2%
Manufacture of dairy products	3.7%

Employment and vacancies (for July 2026)

The number of paid employees in manufacturing fell by 0.2% to 2.29 million (adjusted figure). This is the fifth month in a row at this same level.

The number of UK employees also stayed roughly the same at an adjusted 30.26 million.

Manufacturing vacancies declined in July by 1,000 (2%). There was also a small decrease in the reported overall UK figure, of 4,000 (0.56%).

Wages and payroll (for June 2026)

The figures for June show that manufacturing mean pay rose by £33 (0.88%) to £3,770. UK overall mean pay rose £34 (0.97%) to £3,524 (prior figures for both have been adjusted).

The reported aggregate pay for the manufacturing sector increased 0.30% to £8.56 billion per month (prior month’s figure adjusted).

Meanwhile, aggregate pay for the UK increased by 0.23% to £105.7 billion per month.

Exports and production (for June 2026)

Exports decreased by half a percent in June.

The three manufacturing sub-sectors which displayed the largest export growth for June were:

Sub-sector	Growth
Manufacture of bakery and farinaceous products	25.0%
Manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork, except furniture	21.2%
Manufacture of furniture	17.3%

UK production values (for June 2026)

The three manufacturing sub-sectors that recorded the largest percentage of production value growth in June were:

Sub-sector	Growth
Repair and maintenance of aircraft and spacecraft	23.3%
Building of ships and boats	17.2%
Manufacture of air and spacecraft and related machinery	12.2%

Meanwhile, these sub-sectors recorded the largest falls in production for June 2026:

Sub-sector	Decline
Manufacture of industrial gases, inorganics and fertilisers (inorganic chemicals)	-8.7%
Manufacture of prepared animal feeds	-3.2%
Manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats	-1.8%

Our take on the latest data

Manufacturing performance through June–July 2026 continues to point to a sector that’s surviving rather than thriving.

There’s been a mixed bag of outcomes including a dip in output as the wider economy grew, exports slipping, and vacancies eased again. Employment remained broadly stable, and pay and payroll growth improved but remained modest.

The divergence in GDP figures marks a setback after May’s stabilisation and leaves manufacturing further behind the wider economy, although the growth in leading sectors does show that some sub-sectors retained momentum.

Manufacturing employment remained broadly stable in July despite a small fall. There was also little change to UK employment figures, so the labour market signal remains one of gradual softening rather than a sharp contraction.

Manufacturing vacancies declined again in July, as did UK vacancies – but the proportionate decline was steeper in manufacturing. It suggests employers in the sector remain more cautious about hiring, even as employment levels continue to hold up.

Exports fell 0.5% in June, reversing part of May’s rebound. The strongest gains again suggest the presence of pockets of external demand strength, rather than any broader export momentum. The latest production values underline the uneven nature of performance across manufacturing.

Pay momentum improved in June: a more positive income signal, but not enough on its own to offset weaker output and exports.

For more insights from the engineering and manufacturing sector in handy bite-size bits, follow the Enginuity LinkedIn page for the latest instalment of ‘Thriving or Surviving?’

Enginuity on LinkedIn