Manufacturing production in the UK dropped by 1% month-over-month in May 2025, worse than market expectations of a 0.1% fall and a downwardly revised 0.7% decrease in the previous month. This marked the third consecutive month of decline and the steepest since July last year, with contractions seen in 9 out of 13 subsectors. The largest negative contributions primarily came from the manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products (-4.2% vs 5.4% in April), followed by transport equipment (-1.3% vs -5.3%), and basic metals and metal products (-1.8% vs 0.4%). On the other hand, production increased for machinery and equipment (3.4% vs -1.4%), electrical equipment (0.4% vs 4.5%), and wood, paper products & printing (1% vs -1.3%). On a yearly basis, manufacturing output rose by 0.3% in May, slightly below forecasts of a 0.4% advance and slowing from an upwardly revised 1.3% gain in the preceding period.