Aluminium sector jobs and Gross Value Added

FOI reference: FOI-2025-3075

You asked

For the period 1 August 2024 – 31 July 2025:

1. The number of direct jobs in aluminium production (SIC codes 24.42, 24.43, 25.5), broken down by UK region and subsector.
2. The most recent estimates of indirect jobs supported by the aluminium sector, broken down by end-use sector (automotive, aerospace, construction, packaging, defence, energy).
3. Any assessments, reports, or briefing notes on skills shortages, workforce training needs, or labour market gaps in the aluminium sector.
4. The most recent estimate of the aluminium sector’s Gross Value Added (GVA) contribution to the UK economy, ideally broken down by subsector (primary, secondary, downstream).

Please provide the information in Excel or CSV format where possible.

We said

Thank you for your request. 

In relation to your questions for aluminium production, we do not hold the exact information you have requested but have detailed what is currently held from our relevant surveys to help answer the questions. Each question has been answered separately and associated Excel spreadsheets are available from the associated downloads. 

The number of direct jobs in aluminium production (Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes 24.42, 24.43 and 25.5) broken down by UK region and subsector.

The estimated number of employees in Great Britain working directly in aluminium production was 17,530 in 2023. This includes employees working in aluminium production; lead, zinc, and tin production; casting of iron; casting of steel; casting of light metals; and casting of other non-ferrous metals.

The estimates are derived from the Business Register and Employment Survey, for which the latest available data are currently 2023. 

Further breakdowns, by region and Standard Industrial Classification 2007 (SIC07), can be found in Table 1 in the associated FOI-2025-3075_Q1&2 download. 

The most recent estimates of indirect jobs supported by the aluminium sector, broken down by end-use sector (automotive, aerospace, construction, packaging, defence, energy). 

We are unable to provide an estimate for the number of indirect jobs supported by the aluminium sector, as we do not hold information showing indirect jobs supported by the aluminium sector. 

However, we produce a full set of industry estimates as part of our Employees in Great Britain: 2023 bulletin in Industry (two, three and five-digit Standard Industrial Classification) – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 2. 

For estimates of industry by region, please see our estimates published on Nomis under Business Register and Employment Survey: open access. 

Any assessments, reports, or briefing notes on skills shortages, workforce training needs, or labour market gaps in the aluminium sector. 

We have provided data for the requested SICs for questions asked in our Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) concerning skills demand and support, worker shortages and recruitment difficulties (including reasons why). The relevant questions we ask on BICS are: 

• Which, if any, of the following skills has your business had a high demand for in the last 12 months? 
• Which, if any, of the following skills does your workforce require extra support or training in? 
• Which of the following challenges, if any, has your business experienced due to a shortage of workers? 
• Which, if any, of the following employees has your business had difficulties recruiting in July 2025? 
• Why did your business experience difficulties recruiting employees in July 2025? 

These questions are asked on a quarterly basis, so data are provided for the relevant quarters in the time period requested. 

Please note that for the 4-digit SICs and some of the 3- and 2-digit SIC groupings, we have been unable to provide data because of low numbers of respondents to BICS in these categories. We have therefore provided data at higher level SIC groupings (as well as the manufacturing industry as a whole, and all businesses who responded to BICS) to give some indication of how businesses in these areas may be affected, as well as context into the wider business landscape. 

Further data over different time periods and for different questions can be found on the BICS dataset page on the ONS website but these are only available at a high level industry breakdown. 

The most recent estimate of the aluminium sector’s Gross Value Added (GVA) contribution to the UK economy, ideally broken down by subsector (primary, secondary, downstream). 

The Annual Business Survey (ABS) produces estimates of approximate GVA (aGVA) at basic prices. The aGVA for the "manufacture of basic precious and other non-ferrous metals" industry (SIC 24.4) for 2023 was £1,912 million and for the "Forging, pressing, stamping and roll-forming of metal; powder metallurgy" industry (SIC 25.5) in 2023 it was £851 million. 

2023 is the latest data that are available and further details relating to other variables and further industrial breakdowns are available in our Non-financial business economy, UK (Annual Business Survey): 2023 results bulletin.