UK Manufacturing Output Tumbles in July

Manufacturing production in the UK dropped 1.3% month-over-month in July 2025, missing market estimates for no change and reversing a 0.5% increase in the previous month. This marked the sharpest contraction since July of last year, driven by declines seen in the output of 9 out of 13 subsectors, with the largest negative contribution primarily coming from the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products (-7% vs 8.8% in June), basic pharmaceutical products (-4.5% vs -1.1%), and chemicals & chemical products (-4.6% vs 0.7%). Meanwhile, production increased for textiles, wearing apparel and leather products (1.2% vs 0.2%) and electrical equipment (3.3% vs -0.5%). On a yearly basis, manufacturing activity rose by 0.2% in July, after a stagnant reading in the preceding period.