Manufacturing pay beats the wider economy

New figures show that the average salary in UK manufacturing is now £32,500 - higher than the average across the economy as a whole and significantly more than the services sector.

Jobs in manufacturing pay on average £3,358 more than jobs across the whole economy, and £4,188 more than the average job in services.

In fact, the only manufacturing sub-sector to pay less on average than the services sector is food and drink, which averages £27,600. The highest paying sub-sectors are transport, chemicals, electronics and machinery; all pay more than £34,000 on average.

The figures were published by EEF in its 2018/19 UK Manufacturing Fact Card, which also shows that   average pay in UK manufacturing is higher than the regional economy average everywhere outside of London.

By region, manufacturing in the North West has the largest output, employs the most people and has the highest salary compared its regional average.

Lee Hopley, Chief Economist at EEF, said:

“Our latest data continue to show that UK manufacturing punches above its weight in some vital areas of the economy and contributes more than the sum of its parts. This is reflected regionally, in productivity and pay levels, for millions of people working in the sector. It provides an important reminder that we’re still one of the top ten biggest manufacturing nations.”

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