UK climbs back one place to 11th in global manufacturing league
8 September 2025 
Source: Make UK
The UK has climbed back one place to eleventh position in the global league of manufacturing nations, according to the latest figures from the manufacturers’ association, Make UK. Last year, the UK dropped out of the top ten, plummeting from eighth position to twelfth.
The figures are contained in a new edition of Make UK’s Manufacturing – The Facts publication, which reveals that that in 2023 (the latest year for which global comparisons are available), UK manufacturing output was worth $279bn, putting it just behind Brazil ($290bn), which has moved back in to the top ten for the first time since 2012.
China is by far the largest manufacturing nation, with an output worth $4.8 trillion, followed by the US on $2.8tn and Japan on $840bn. Germany (on $838bn) remains Europe’s biggest manufacturer by a considerable margin, and is still the world’s fourth-largest manufacturer, followed by South Korea and India – which have swapped fifth and sixth positions – and Mexico, with Italy in eighth position ($353bn) and France in ninth ($296bn).
Manufacturing accounts for 42% of the UK’s exports, 48% of its business R&D, and 17% of its business investment.
The statistics also reveal that the average salary in the UK manufacturing sector rose by 7% in 2024 to £41,220 – compared to an average of £38,224 across the economy as a whole, and £37,559 in the services sector.
The US remains the largest export market for UK goods, and was worth £59.3bn in 2024. Germany is the second-biggest destination (£32.1.bn), with The Netherlands in third place (£27.9bn) – although Make UK warns that trade with The Netherlands could be inflated artificially by goods being routed through Rotterdam for onward travel to other destinations. Ireland is the UK’s fourth-largest export market (£23.9bn).
Seven of the UK’s top ten export markets are in the EU, with a combined value of around £143bn. This is more than twice the value of exports to the US, and around nine times higher than exports to China (£16.7bn). According to Make UK, this highlights the importance of the EU for UK goods and the need for the Government to continue to smooth out trade barriers with the UK’s dominant export market.
Food and drinks is the sector that makes the biggest contribution to the UK’s manufacturing Gross Value Added (18%), followed transport (mainly aerospace and automotive) on 17%, and chemicals and pharmaceuticals on 13%. Together, the latter two sectors account for 70% of manufacturing R&D in the UK.
The North West remains the UK’s biggest manufacturing region – worth £29.5bn in output and employing 335,000 people. Manufacturing accounts for almost 15% of the North West’s economic output, and almost 10% of its employment.
Wales has the highest share of manufacturing of any UK region, accounting for 15.6% of the Welsh economy, compared to a national UK average of just under 10%.
“These figures reflect not just the importance of manufacturing to the economy but factors and trends which are redrawing the contours of the global economy at an accelerating rate,” says Make UK’s chief economist, Dr Seamus Nevin. “These trends reinforce why it was vital to introduce a long-term industrial strategy to take competitive advantage of our undoubted strengths. This will ensure the UK retains its place at the top table of advanced manufacturing nations where it has many world-class sectors.”
