Capacity Utilization: Manufacturing
How much of existing factory capacity is in use — above 80% signals tightness and investment pressure.
75.2%
Trend YoY growth is +0.3%, accelerating by 4 bps/year over the last 25Y. Latest: -0.5%, 73 bps below trend, a 0.36σ deviation. The latest YoY reading is boosted by 73 bps due to an easy comparison base from Mar 1.
Level
YoY Change
y = −0.6% + 4 bps/yr · t
Deviation from trend
Forecast
Projected value by forecast vintage (%)
Projected value (%)
| Forecast made in | Aug '25 | Sep '25 | Oct '25 | Nov '25 | Dec '25 | Jan '26 | Feb '26 | Mar '26 | Apr '26 | May '26 | Jun '26 | Jul '26 | Aug '26 | Sep '26 | Oct '26 | Nov '26 | Dec '26 | Jan '27 | Feb '27 | Mar '27 | Apr '27 | MAPE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug '25 | 75.8 | 75.5 | 75.1 | 75.4 | 75.9 | 75.7 | 76.7 | 77.1 | 77.2 | 77.2 | 77.5 | 78.0 | 78.1 | 78.2 | 77.6 | 77.7 | 77.8 | 78.4 | 78.7 | 78.7 | 80.8 | 2109% |
| Sep '25 | 75.7 | 75.3 | 75.7 | 76.1 | 76.0 | 77.0 | 77.5 | 77.6 | 77.6 | 78.0 | 78.5 | 78.6 | 78.7 | 78.2 | 78.3 | 78.5 | 79.1 | 79.5 | 79.5 | 82.0 | 3028% | |
| Oct '25 | 75.0 | 75.6 | 76.1 | 75.9 | 77.0 | 77.4 | 77.5 | 77.6 | 78.0 | 78.5 | 78.6 | 78.7 | 78.2 | 78.3 | 78.4 | 79.0 | 79.4 | 79.4 | 81.9 | 3621% | ||
| Nov '25 | 74.9 | 75.9 | 75.7 | 76.7 | 77.1 | 77.2 | 77.2 | 77.6 | 78.1 | 78.2 | 78.3 | 77.7 | 77.8 | 77.9 | 78.5 | 78.9 | 78.8 | 81.0 | 3624% | |||
| Dec '25 | 74.8 | 75.3 | 76.2 | 76.6 | 76.6 | 76.6 | 76.9 | 77.3 | 77.4 | 77.4 | 76.8 | 76.9 | 76.9 | 77.5 | 77.8 | 77.7 | 79.3 | 3075% | ||||
| Jan '26 | 75.2 | 76.1 | 76.5 | 76.5 | 76.4 | 76.7 | 77.1 | 77.2 | 77.2 | 76.5 | 76.5 | 76.6 | 77.1 | 77.4 | 77.3 | 78.7 | 3589% | |||||
| Feb '26 | 75.4 | 76.3 | 76.2 | 76.2 | 76.4 | 76.8 | 76.8 | 76.8 | 76.1 | 76.1 | 76.1 | 76.6 | 76.9 | 76.8 | 77.9 | 233% | ||||||
| Mar '26 | 75.2 | 75.8 | 75.7 | 76.0 | 76.3 | 76.3 | 76.2 | 75.5 | 75.4 | 75.4 | 75.8 | 76.1 | 75.9 | 76.6 | ||||||||
| Apr '26 | 75.8 | 75.7 | 76.0 | 76.3 | 76.3 | 76.2 | 75.5 | 75.4 | 75.4 | 75.8 | 76.1 | 75.9 | 76.6 |
YoY change forecast
| Forecast made in | Aug '25 | Sep '25 | Oct '25 | Nov '25 | Dec '25 | Jan '26 | Feb '26 | Mar '26 | Apr '26 | May '26 | Jun '26 | Jul '26 | Aug '26 | Sep '26 | Oct '26 | Nov '26 | Dec '26 | Jan '27 | Feb '27 | Mar '27 | Apr '27 | MAPE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug '25 | +0.3% | +0.5% | +0.6% | +0.8% | +1.0% | +1.1% | +1.3% | +1.5% | +1.6% | +1.8% | +2.0% | +2.1% | +2.3% | +2.5% | +2.7% | +2.8% | +3.0% | +3.2% | +3.3% | +3.5% | +3.7% | 2109% |
| Sep '25 | +0.7% | +0.8% | +1.0% | +1.2% | +1.4% | +1.6% | +1.8% | +2.0% | +2.2% | +2.4% | +2.6% | +2.8% | +3.0% | +3.2% | +3.5% | +3.7% | +3.9% | +4.1% | +4.2% | +4.5% | 3028% | |
| Oct '25 | +0.5% | +1.0% | +1.2% | +1.4% | +1.6% | +1.8% | +2.0% | +2.2% | +2.4% | +2.6% | +2.8% | +3.0% | +3.2% | +3.4% | +3.6% | +3.8% | +4.0% | +4.2% | +4.4% | 3621% | ||
| Nov '25 | +0.3% | +1.0% | +1.1% | +1.3% | +1.5% | +1.7% | +1.8% | +2.0% | +2.2% | +2.4% | +2.6% | +2.7% | +2.9% | +3.1% | +3.3% | +3.5% | +3.6% | +3.8% | 3624% | |||
| Dec '25 | -0.1% | +0.7% | +0.9% | +1.0% | +1.1% | +1.2% | +1.4% | +1.5% | +1.6% | +1.7% | +1.9% | +2.0% | +2.1% | +2.3% | +2.4% | +2.5% | +2.6% | 3075% | ||||
| Jan '26 | +0.7% | +0.7% | +0.8% | +0.9% | +1.0% | +1.1% | +1.2% | +1.3% | +1.5% | +1.6% | +1.7% | +1.8% | +1.9% | +2.0% | +2.1% | +2.2% | 3589% | |||||
| Feb '26 | +0.0% | +0.6% | +0.7% | +0.8% | +0.8% | +0.9% | +1.0% | +1.1% | +1.2% | +1.2% | +1.3% | +1.4% | +1.5% | +1.6% | +1.6% | 233% | ||||||
| Mar '26 | -0.5% | +0.3% | +0.3% | +0.4% | +0.4% | +0.5% | +0.5% | +0.5% | +0.6% | +0.6% | +0.6% | +0.7% | +0.7% | +0.7% | ||||||||
| Apr '26 | +0.3% | +0.3% | +0.4% | +0.4% | +0.5% | +0.5% | +0.5% | +0.6% | +0.6% | +0.6% | +0.7% | +0.7% | +0.7% |
Forecasts use ordinary least-squares linear regression fitted to the YoY change series over a rolling 1Y window. Each row shows a vintage — the forecast as it would have appeared at that point in time. Projected values apply the forecasted YoY change to the prior year's level, chaining forward where actuals are unavailable. MAPE measures forecast accuracy against realized values. These are mechanical trend extrapolations, not economic models.