Industry results

In January, output in the services sector is estimated to have increased by 0.5%, with growth in eight of the fourteen subsectors. The three industries which made the biggest contributions to overall GDP growth in January were Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, Administrative and Support Services and Retail, Wholesale and Motor Trades, which between them contributed 0.5 percentage points to overall growth. The positive contributions were partly offset by falling output in the other services, accommodation and food services, and arts, culture and recreation industries.

Production sector output grew by 0.4% in January, with increases in three of the four subsectors. Construction sector output increased by 1.1% in January.

There were some common themes that were anecdotally reported (as part of the Monthly Business Survey (MBS) for production and services) to have played a part in performance across different industries. However, it is difficult to quantify the exact impact.

Comments provided to the MBS for January 2024 suggested some industries saw supply chains impacted by disruption in the Red Sea. These comments to the survey centred in the wholesale and warehousing industries.

Further analysis on the Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) suggested the conflict in the Middle East also impacted industries in the manufacturing sector. While unable to quantify the impact this was cited as the main reason for global supply chain disruption in January 2024 by a range of manufacturing industries, including the manufacture of textiles, rubber and plastic products, food products and electrical equipment.