Manufacturing output in recession-hit Britain tumbled in January for the 11th month in a row, official data showed yesterday.

Output sank 2.9 per cent in January from December and was down 12.8 per cent on a 12-month basis to record the biggest annual drop since 1981, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

Analysts had forecast a fall of 1.5 per cent between January and December and an annual decline of 11.7 per cent.

The ONS said a wider measure of industrial production, which includes mining, quarrying and energy, plunged 2.6 per cent in January from December and was down 11.4 per cent year-on-year.

"The industrial sector is suffering a real hammering globally and UK manufacturers are taking their fair share of the hits," said IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer.

"Manufacturing output plunged yet again in January, thereby starting this year even worse than it ended last year, which is quite a feat," he said.

"The UK manufacturing sector is being battered by depressed domestic demand, very weak activity in key export markets, very tight credit conditions and intense competition."