Some headline manufacturing facts and figures for 2011 (year to end-October). Source: EEF
1. Manufacturing accounts for 10% of the economy, has been about 25% of growth since recession
2. Eight consecutive quarters of growth
3. There are approximately 124,000 manufacturing companies in the UK
4. Manufacturing accounts for about 10% of employment in the UK
5. EEF’s Businesss Trends survey shows that a balance of 12% of companies saw output expand in the last three months
6. In the last year productivity in manufacturing rose 4.9% compared with 1.4% in the economy as a whole
7. Mechanical equipment (8.4%) and motor vehicles (10.6%) were the best performing sectors in the year to Oct 2011
8. In the last decade productivity in manufacturing rose 45% compared with 14% in the economy as a whole
9. UK goods exports hit a record £26.5bn in October
10. Ratio of R&D to income in is around 4%, rising to 15% for pharma (1.6% for the whole economy)
11. EEF surveys show that the majority of manufacturers are adopting low-carbon initiatives
12. Manufacturing accounts for around 3/4 of business investment
13. Since 1990 manufacturing emissions have been reduced by 39%
14. There are currently around 2.5 million people employed in manufacturing
15. Manufacturing recycles nearly half its waste
16. Average weekly earnings are 15% higher in manufacturing than for the economy as a whole
17. Investment by manufacturers rose by nearly 16% in the last year
18. Manufacturers are bringing production back to the UK: 1 in 7 manufacturers that had shipped production offshore are bringing activity back
19. Over 90% of UK manufacturers are exporters
(keep checking this page this week for further ‘advent’ manufacturing facts)
