In the 3 months to January 2017, total production was estimated to have increased by 1.9%, with manufacturing providing the largest contribution increasing by 2.1%, its strongest growth since May 2010.

The highly volatile pharmaceuticals sector provided the largest contribution to the manufacturing increase, along with smaller upwards contributions from a range of other manufacturing industries. In January 2017, total production decreased by 0.4% compared with December 2016 with manufacturing providing the largest downward contribution, decreasing by 0.9%.