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Sales of manufactured products in Britain edge forward for sixth year running

Xinhua, June 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

The value of products manufactured in Britain during 2015 reached 536 billion U.S.dollars, a rise of just 0.2 percent over 2014, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported here Wednesday.

ONS said the increase in the value of sales in 2015 marked the sixth annual increase since 2009, but was the slowest annual rate of growth since the economic downturn of 2008-09.

Despite a slowdown in growth in 2015, some divisions, such as the manufacture of motor vehicles and non-metallic minerals reported increased product sales.

Sales of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers in 2015, at 71 billion U.S.dollars, were 2.3 percent up over the previous year.

The ONS said the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers has traditionally been an important division of the British manufacturing sector. Sales from the motor vehicle division were 77.1 percent higher in current prices than in 2009, following the economic downturn.

The manufacture of other parts and accessories for motor vehicles accounted for almost half the annual growth of the industry, at 508.7 million pounds (747 million U.S. dollars). Much of the increased sales were within the manufacture of parts for vehicle bodies, including chassis frames and cabs.

A recent report by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) suggested that British car manufacturing has had its best year in a decade as exports reached a record high.

The production of air, spacecraft and related machinery had the largest sales value in its sector, accounting for a 2.06 billion-U.S.dollar increase.

"The UK aerospace industry is the largest in Europe and its growth follows a "rise in commercial production levels" and "investment in skills, technology and productivity"," said the ONS report, adding research and development investment in aerospace is among the highest of any sector in Britain.

The ONS also said increases in the sales value of ready-mixed concrete of 18.8 percent (360 million U.S.dollars) and concrete products for construction at 10.8 percent (308.5 million U.S.dollars) have been the main drivers in the growth of the manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products division.

The division grew in 2015 by 7.3 percent (1.20 billion U.S.dollars) to a total of 17.6 billion U.S.dollars, representing the highest sales value since 2008. Endit