Index of Production, UK: November 2023

• Production output growth in the three months to November 2023 was estimated to have fallen by 1.5% when compared with the three months to August 2023.

• At the section level, in the three months to November 2023 there were falls in "manufacturing" and "mining and quarrying" of 1.9% each; this was partially offset by a rise in "electricity and gas" (1.0%). 

• Monthly production output is estimated to have risen by 0.3% in November 2023; this follows a revised fall of 1.3% in October 2023 (revised down by 0.5 percentage points). 

• The monthly increase in output for November 2023 resulted from a rise in three of the four production sectors, with "manufacturing" being the main contributor to the monthly rise (0.4%) and a smaller positive contribution from "mining and quarrying" (1.3%) and "electricity and gas" (0.2%); this is partially offset by a fall in "water supply and sewerage" (1.0%).

• Monthly manufacturing output rose by 0.4% in November 2023 following four consecutive monthly falls; there were increases in 9 of its 13 sub-sectors during November 2023.

• The largest contributing manufacturing sub-sectors to the monthly rise in November 2023 were "manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations" and "manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco", which increased by 4.8% and 1.4%, respectively.

• Further analysis of the effect on our monthly Index of Production (IoP) estimate is available in our Gross domestic product (GDP) monthly estimate, UK: November 2023 bulletin, published 12 January 2024.

The Index of Production (IoP) uses data from a variety of sources. It 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 Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), and the International Steel Statistics Bureau (ISSB) for steel industries.

The Office for National Statistics' (ONS) Monthly Business Survey (MBS) is fully online. 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 DESNZ, and therefore will be less affected than the survey data.

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) data sources catalogue (XLS, 1.9MB).

Response rates for November 2023

For November 2023, the response rates were 72.3% based on forms returned and this accounted for 79.5% of total turnover coverage of the sample population. Historical information can be found in our IoP response rates.

Quality and methodology

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our UK Index of Production Quality and Methodology Information (QMI).

Additional bank holiday in May 2023 for the Coronation of King Charles III         

There was an additional bank holiday for the coronation of King Charles III on Monday 8 May 2023. While adjustments are made for regular calendar effects, there was no explicit adjustment for this event. However, the timing of the bank holiday indirectly affects the number of trading days, which could affect GDP estimates positively or negatively, depending on the sector. This should be taken into account when interpreting monthly and three-month movements over recent months since May 2023.    

Revisions to IoP     

In line with the National Accounts Revision Policy, this release gives data for November 2023, with October 2023 also open for revision.    

We have also included revisions to the monthly data from January 2022 to September 2023 as a result of revisions incorporated in the GDP quarterly National Accounts, UK: July to September 2023 release published on 22 December 2023.  

Updates to monthly GDP methods and data sources in Blue Book 2023

A number of changes have been made to the methods and data sources used in compiling monthly GDP and output approach to measuring GDP estimates as part of Blue Book 2023.

For further information on the updates please see Section 9: Measuring the data in the GDP monthly estimate, UK: November 2023 bulletin.

Office for Statistics Regulation review of GDP 

The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) completed a review of the practices around the preparation and release of information about revisions to estimates of GDP in our Impact of Blue Book 2023 article released on 1 September 2023. This will cover the following:      

• processes and quality assurance in making revisions to GDP

• potential improvements to early estimates of GDP enabled through enhanced access to data

• communication of revisions to GDP, the story behind the most recent set of revisions in particular and uncertainty in early estimates of GDP

We have already started work looking into the recommendations of this review and will set out plans more fully during January 2024.