A significant milestone busts the common myth that we’ve essentially given up on making things
One of the most common myths about the UK – which speaks loudly to the idea of a country in seemingly terminal economic decline – is that we’ve essentially given up on making things. That this should be widely thought true, both in Britain and among our economic peers, shouldn’t surprise, for superficially it appears to be supported by the data.
Once the undisputed manufacturing powerhouse of the world, Britain’s manufacturing base is today less than 10pc of GDP, down from around three times that amount 50 years ago; great swathes of manufacturing capacity – from steel to shipbuilding, automobiles and machine tools – have been ceded to others, and in recent years, particularly to China.
There’s no denying this erosion; from workshop of the world to just another bit player.
But it is also something of a statistical illusion, for in absolute terms, Britain actually produces more manufacturing goods today than ever before, more even than when Britain was in its late Victorian pomp, when to be made in Britain was a mark of quality and reliability the world over.