Index of Production, UK: September 2024

• Production output for Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2024 was estimated to have decreased by 0.2% compared with Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2024; this follows a fall of 0.3% in Quarter 2 2024.

• In Quarter 3 2024, the decrease in "electricity and gas" (down 2.7%) and "water supply and sewerage" (down 0.9%) was partially offset by the increase in "manufacturing" (0.2%); the growth in “manufacturing” in Quarter 3 2024 is largely because of monthly weakness during April and May 2024, affecting Quarter 2 2024 (down 0.7%).

• Monthly production output was estimated to have decreased by 0.5% in September 2024; this follows a decrease of 0.7% in July 2024 and an increase of 0.5% in August 2024 (both unrevised).

• Monthly production output in September 2024 was at its lowest level since May 2020.

• The monthly output decrease in September 2024 resulted primarily from a decrease of 1.0% in "manufacturing", supported by "electricity and gas" (down 1.9%) and "water supply and sewerage" (down 0.7%); these reductions were partially offset by a rise in "mining and quarrying" (3.7%).

• The monthly decrease in manufacturing output in September 2024 saw decreases in 8 of its 13 subsectors; the largest negative contribution to manufacturing output in September 2024 came from "basic metals and metal products" (down 2.7%).

• The monthly increase in September 2024 in "mining and quarrying" came from the "extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas", which saw a 4.3% rise; a partial bounce back following a 5.7% decrease during August 2024.

The Index of Production (IoP) uses data from a variety of sources. It is calculated by taking turnover and removing the effect 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 MBS is fully online. Business owners can log on from any location and submit their data at an appropriate time.    

From January 2018, Value Added Tax (VAT) data have also been included across 64 production industries for small- and medium-sized businesses. More information is available in 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.

Response rates for September 2024

For September 2024, MBS response rates were 72.5%, based on forms returned. This accounted for 81.4% of total turnover coverage of the sample population. For further information, see our current and historical MBS (production) response rates dataset.

Quality and methodology

The data reported in IoP bulletins and datasets are estimates that are subject to uncertainty, such as sampling variability and non-sampling error. More information is available in Section 2 of our Uncertainty and how we measure it for our surveys web page.

More quality and methodology information (QMI) on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our Index of Production, UK QMI. This was last updated on 7 June 2024.

Accredited official statistics

These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in April 2014. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled "accredited official statistics".

Revisions to Index of Production

In line with the National Accounts Revisions Policy, this release gives data for September 2024 for the first time with revisions open for July and August 2024.