UK manufacturers' sales by product: 2022 results

• The total value of UK manufacturers' product sales was £429.8 billion in 2022, an increase of £28.4 billion (7%) from £401.5 billion in 2021.
• The manufacture of food remained the largest division and represented 21% of total manufacturers sales in 2022; the division also showed the largest value increase, up by £8.4 billion (11%) in 2022 to £88.4 billion.
• The divisions representing the manufacture of basic metals (£7.1 billion) and the manufacture of wearing apparel (£1.4 billion) showed the largest proportional increases in sales in 2022, up by 17% and 15%, respectively. 
• Following a decline in sales during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic period, sales of parts for all types of aircraft (for civil use) showed the largest value increase for any single product in 2022, rising by £1.4 billion (27%) to £6.7 billion; this was followed by whisky sales, which increased by £1.0 billion (25%) to £5.1 billion. 
• Other selected products showing notable increases in 2022 are wheat flour with sales of £1.6 billion, up by £0.4 billion (32%), and waters with added sugars (soft drinks), which increased by £0.6 billion (12%) to £5.4 billion. 
• High energy costs and the impact of the rising cost-of-living were some of the reasons manufacturers reported declining production or sales; products showing declining sales in 2022 included beer, with sales falling £0.5 billion (13%) to £3.3 billion, and paints and varnishes (acrylic or vinyl), which showed a decline in sales of £0.4 billion (28%) to £0.9 billion.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic related manufacturing

Increases in production of some goods related to the coronavirus pandemic (such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and so on) may have occurred. However, if these were donated or offered charitably, the production would not be reflected in this release because it only captures volume of sales and turnover generated from the sale of manufactured products.

Data collection and sources

ProdCom estimates are based on a sample of businesses surveyed annually. Data are collected from approximately 21,500 businesses, covering 240 subsectors of the mining, quarrying and manufacturing industry sectors and collects data on approximately 3,800 products.

It is sometimes necessary to suppress figures for certain products to avoid disclosing information about an individual business. The ProdCom technical report describes the methods used to safeguard the information provided in confidence to us. Our commentary must also avoid disclosing information about individual businesses.

ProdCom estimates are designated as National Statistics, which means that the data are produced in compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

For Division 19 (coke and refined petroleum products), only one product (pitch and pitch coke, obtained from coal tar or from other mineral tars) is included. This product is located in one industry (19100: the manufacture of coke oven products) and there have been no businesses specifically classified to this industry in the ProdCom publication since 2015.

For Division 24 (the manufacture of basic metals), estimates for the manufacture of basic iron and steel and of ferro-alloys are not included in the overall UK ProdCom sales figures or in the divisional total. Because of disclosure issues, we have combined Divisions 11 and 12 (beverages and tobacco) to allow for estimates at this level of aggregation to be made available.

Quality and methodology

The ProdCom survey methodology is outlined in our UK Manufacturers' Sales by Product Survey (Prodcom) Quality and Methodology Information (QMI). Standard errors are available for most products, to inform users of the precision of the estimates.

The 2022 estimates are based on a response rate of 77.0%.