13th Feb 2025 09:17
(Alliance News) - UK industrial production was stronger than expected at the end of last year, numbers on Thursday showed, while the trade deficit shrunk.
UK industrial output rose 0.5% in December from November, numbers from the Office for National Statistics showed. Output had shrunk 0.6% in November and 0.5% in October. December's reading beat expectations of a 0.2% improvement, according to consensus cited by FXStreet.
"The rise in monthly output in December 2024 resulted from increases in manufacturing (0.7%) and mining and quarrying (1.5%); these were partially offset by decreases in electricity and gas (down 0.6%) and water supply and sewerage (down 0.4%)," the ONS said.
"The monthly increase in manufacturing output in December 2024 saw increases in 7 of its 13 subsectors."
Year-on-year, output fell 1.9% in December, the pace of decline easing from 2.0% in November. A steeper fall of 2.1% was predicted for December, according to FXStreet.
Separate figures from the ONS showed the UK trade deficit shrunk to GBP2.82 billion in December, from GBP4.35 billion in November.
Imports fell 1.5% to GBP71.88 billion, while exports rose 0.7% to GBP69.06 billion.
The goods trade deficit alone shrunk to GBP17.45 billion in December, from GBP18.90 billion in November. The latest reading beat the FXStreet cited consensus of GBP18.4 billion.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.