Green technology worth £8.6 billion to the Greater Manchester economy

A new study into Greater Manchester’s green technology sector has found it generated £8.6 billion in sales in 2019-20, and employs 3.2% of the city-region’s workforce.

The research was commissioned by Green Economy, a membership organisation connecting buyers to suppliers of green products and services, and was carried out by Ove Arup in association with KMatrix. The mapping study found that the green technology sector (including associated services) is larger than the local advanced manufacturing, digital, creative and science and research and development sectors combined in terms of economic output.

Amy House, Director of Green Economy said:

“This report found that Greater Manchester’s green technologies and services sector is punching above its weight, and is home to the UK’s third biggest green economy, behind London and the South East, with 4% of local sales coming from the sector.

“Internationally, Greater Manchester outperformed Milan, Copenhagen, Seattle, Berlin, Rome and Stockholm when comparing sales value in proportion to GDP and it contributed 46% of the North West’s sector exports.”

The report highlighted many strengths across the local supply chain but identified that green technology sector in Greater Manchester had experienced a slightly slower growth rate (7.1%) than the UK as a whole (7.4%); within the same period globally the sector grew by 14%.

Amy House said:

“Our report identified a positive story about the sector; however, we can see that we’ll need to invest further if we’re to ensure Greater Manchester seizes the opportunities that are presented by the net zero transition, particularly across renewable energy generation and storage. Green Economy is playing a vital role here, working with the businesses at the heart of the net zero transition to help them increase their competitiveness by diversifying, upskilling their workforces and connecting them to new market opportunities.”

The full ‘Mapping the Green Economy’ report into the Greater Manchester green technology sector is available to download from the Green Economy website.