UK industrial production slipped by 0.1% month-on-month in January 2026, confounding market expectations of a 0.2% increase, though the decline was smaller than December’s 0.9% drop. Manufacturing output posted a modest rebound, rising 0.1% after a 0.5% fall in December. This improvement was largely driven by recoveries in the manufacture of transport equipment (up 4% vs down 1.1% previously), food products, beverages, and tobacco (up 2.2% vs down 1.4%), chemicals and chemical products (up 1.5% vs down 5%), and other manufacturing and repair (up 4.5% vs down 2%).
Output also picked up in water supply, sewerage, and waste management, which rose 1.9% after a 2.4% decline, while the contraction in electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditioning supply eased to 0.3% from 1.7%. By contrast, mining and quarrying output continued to fall sharply, dropping 3.2% following a 0.7% decline in December.
On a year-on-year basis, overall industrial activity edged down to 0.4% growth from 0.5% in December, undershooting market forecasts of a 0.6% increase.
