Index of Production, UK: January 2023

• Monthly production output is estimated to have fallen by 0.3% in January 2023; this contrasts with a rise of 0.3% in December 2022.

• The monthly decrease in output resulted from a decline in two of the four production sectors, with mining and quarrying, and manufacturing falling by 2.2% and 0.4% respectively; this was partially offset by water supply and sewerage, and electricity and gas, which rose by 0.6% and 0.5% respectively.

• Monthly manufacturing output saw 7 of its 13 sub-sectors negatively contributing to growth during January 2023; most notably, the manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations contributed negative 0.31 percentage points to the Index of Production (IoP), with growth falling by 4.7%; this was partially offset by the largest positive contribution of 0.09 percentage points, with growth rising by 2.2%, from manufacture of chemicals and chemical products.

• Monthly production output remained 1.7% below February 2020, this was the last month of "normal" trading conditions before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; of the main production sectors, mining and quarrying, and manufacturing were below the February 2020 level, falling by 19.0% and 2.7% respectively, in contrast, water supply and sewerage, and electricity and gas were above the February 2020 level, rising by 11.6% and 5.8% respectively.

• Production output for the three months to January 2023 rose by 0.3% compared with the three months to October 2022, the first three-monthly growth since July 2021 (0.2%), with rises of 2.1% in electricity and gas and 2.0% in water supply and sewerage; these were partially offset by falls of 0.2% in both manufacturing, and mining and quarrying.

• Further analysis of the effect on our monthly IoP estimate is available in our Gross domestic product (GDP) monthly estimate, UK: January 2023 bulletin, published 10 March 2023.

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.

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).

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).

Revisions to IoP

In line with the National Accounts revision policy, there are no open periods for revision in this release. For our February 2023 release (to be published on 13 April 2023), we will align with the latest GDP quarterly national accounts, UK: October to December 2022 and periods from January 2022 will be open to revision.

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

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.

Our latest data and analysis on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the UK economy and population are available on our Coronavirus (COVID-19) data and analysis web page. This is the hub for all special coronavirus-related publications, including the fortnightly Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS).

Economic statistics governance after Brexit

Following the UK's exit from the EU, new governance arrangements are being put in place. These will support the adoption and implementation of high-quality standards for UK economic statistics. These governance arrangements will promote international comparability and add to the credibility and independence of the UK's statistical system.

At the centre of this new governance framework, there will be the new National Statistician's Committee for Advice on Standards for Economic Statistics (NSCASE). NSCASE will support the UK by ensuring its processes for influencing and adopting international statistical standards are world leading. The advice that NSCASE provides to the National Statistician will span the full range of domains in economic statistics, including:

• the national accounts

• fiscal statistics

• prices

• trade and the balance of payments

• labour market statistics

You can access further information on the NSCASE on the UK Statistics Authority's website.