Huge drop in overseas demand for UK orders

UK factories have seen the biggest drop in export orders since the start of the pandemic, with demand from the US, Europe and China waning amid global uncertainty over Donald Trump's tariffs, a new survey shows.

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Manufacturing production has been shrinking for seven months in a row. The S&P Global UK manufacturing PMI survey, watched closely by economists, showed a reading of 45.4 in April, up from 44.9 in March.

Any reading above 50.0 indicates that activity is growing while any score below means it is contracting. April's reading was a slight improvement on March’s 17-month low, and also higher than an earlier estimate of 44.0.