Index of Production, UK: March 2024

• Monthly production output was estimated to have risen by 0.2% in March 2024; this follows a rise of 1.0% in February 2024 (revised down 0.1 percentage point) and a fall of 0.5% in January 2024 (revised down 0.2 percentage points).

• The monthly increase in output for March 2024 resulted from a rise in two of the four production sectors, with the largest contribution from "manufacturing" (0.3%) and a smaller contribution from "mining and quarrying" (1.0%); this was partially offset by falls in "electricity and gas" (0.9%) and "water supply and sewerage" (0.1%).

• Monthly manufacturing output rose by 0.3% in March 2024 and saw a mixed profile of growth at the sub-level, with increases in 5 of its 13 subsectors.

• The largest positive contribution to manufacturing growth in March 2024 came from "manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations" (7.6%); the largest negative contribution came from "manufacture of transport equipment" (2.8%).

• The remaining manufacturing sub-industries (excluding basic pharmaceutical products and transport equipment manufacturing) contributed minimally to IoP growth in March 2024.

• Looking at the longer-term profile, quarterly production output for Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2024 rose by 0.8% compared with Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2023, growth came primarily from "manufacturing" (1.4%); partially offset by a fall in "water supply and sewerage" (2.4%).

All data related to the Index of Production (IoP) are available on our Related data page.

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.

The 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, so will be less affected than the survey data.       

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 March 2024

For March 2024, the response rates were 68.4% based on forms returned. This accounted for 78.2% of total turnover coverage of the sample population. For further information, see our current and historical Monthly Business Survey (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 on 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 UK Index of Production QMI.

Revisions to IoP

In line with the National Accounts Revision Policy, this release provides data for March 2024 for the first time, with January and February 2024 also open for revision.

Early estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) are subject to revision (positive and negative). Please see our Why GDP figures are revised article for more information.

Underlying data sources that form the IoP are open to revision each period. For example, our Monthly Business Survey dataset publishes revisions to the previously published 12 months of data.