Index of Production, UK: February 2022

• Monthly production output fell by 0.6% between January 2022 and February 2022, reaching a level that was 1.9% below February 2020 (the last month of “normal” trading conditions prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic).

• The monthly fall in output resulted from weakness in all four production sectors, with manufacturing falling by 0.4%, mining and quarrying by 3.2%, electricity and gas by 0.6%, and water supply and sewerage by 0.4%.

• Manufacturing saw 7 of the 13 sub-sectors negatively contribute to growth during February; most notably, manufacturing of transport equipment fell by 5.4% and manufacturing of chemicals and chemical products fell by 5.0%.

• Manufacturing’s negative growth was partially offset by manufacturing of basic pharmaceutical products and manufacturing of basic metals and metal products, which rose by 9.8% and 3.2%, respectively.

• Output remained below the February 2020 pre-coronavirus pandemic levels in three of the four production sectors; monthly manufacturing output remained 0.7% below, mining and quarrying was 18.6% below, and electricity and gas was 6.6% below, while water supply and sewerage was 7.2% above.

• For the three months to February 2022, production output increased by 1.0% compared with the three months to November 2021; rises of 1.7% in manufacturing, 1.7% in water supply and sewerage, and 0.1% in electricity and gas were partially offset by a fall of 6.6% in mining and quarrying.

• Manufacture of basic metals and metal products rose by 4.7%, mainly because of strength from the fabricated metal products excluding weapons and ammunition industry; this was the most notable increase in manufacturing for the three months to February 2022 compared with the three months to November 2021.

• Further analysis of the effect on our monthly Index of Production estimate is available in our GDP monthly estimate, UK: February 2022 bulletin, published 11 April 2022.

The Index of Production (IoP) uses data from a variety of sources and is calculated by taking turnover and removing the impact of price changes, or by using direct volume estimates.

Most of these data are collected as “turnover values” through the Monthly Business Survey (MBS). In addition, direct volume series are collected by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the International Steel Statistics Bureau (ISSB) for steel industries.

From January 2018, Value Added Tax (VAT) data have also been included across 64 production industries for small and medium-sized businesses. For more information, see our VAT turnover data in national accounts: background and methodology article.

A comprehensive list of the IoP source data can be found in our Gross domestic product (GDP(O)) source catalogue (XLS, 715KB).

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our UK IoP QMI.

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS’) Monthly Business Survey (MBS) is fully online, meaning that business owners can log on from any location and submit their data at an appropriate time. Most other data in the IoP come from the BEIS and therefore will be less affected than survey data.

Our latest data and analysis on the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on the UK economy and population are available on our coronavirus web page. This is the hub for all special coronavirus related publications, including the fortnightly Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS).

Economic statistics governance after EU exit

Following the UK’s exit from the EU, new governance arrangements are being put in place that will support the adoption and implementation of high-quality standards for UK economic statistics. These governance arrangements will promote international comparability and add to the credibility and independence of the UK’s statistical system.

At the centre of this new governance framework will be the new National Statistician’s Committee for Advice on Standards for Economic Statistics (NSCASE). NSCASE will support the UK by ensuring its processes for influencing and adopting international statistical standards are world-leading. The advice NSCASE provides to the National Statistician will span the full range of domains in economic statistics, including the National Accounts, fiscal statistics, prices, trade and the balance of payments and labour market statistics.

You can access further information on the NSCASE on the UK Statistics Authority’s website.