Manufacturing output fell by 0.9 percent in January, a bigger decline than the 0.6 percent fall forecast.
Overall industrial output fell 0.4 percent in January.
Britain’s manufacturing sector struggled to grow much in recent years but has shown signs of a pick up recently, possibly helped by the fall in the pound after voters decided in June that Britain should leave the European Union.
However, manufacturing accounts for only around 10 percent of Britain’s gross domestic product and there have been signs recently that consumers, whose spending helped the economy withstand the Brexit shock, are turning more cautious.
Separate figures from the ONS showed Britain’s goods trade deficit with the rest of the world narrowed slightly in January to 10.833 billion pounds, smaller than the forecast deficit of 11.05 billion pounds.
Next week is expected to be volatile for the pound. Theresa May is looking to trigger Article 50 on Wednesday, however this will more than likely be Thursday or even Friday. Wednesday are the Dutch Elections and she may not want to trigger on the same day.