Creative sectors worth £92bn to UK economy, Government research reveals

The latest statistics from Government reveal that the UK’s creative industries contribute £91.8bn to the economy.

The figures from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) look at the value of the Government department’s sectors to the economy, and how much their value increased from 2015-2016.

This is measured in terms of growth of Gross Value Added (GVA), which is the value of goods and services produced within an economy.

Creative industries have highest growth rate

The DCMS sectors include the creative industries, cultural sector, digital sector, gambling, sport, telecoms, tourism and civil society.

The creative industries had the highest growth rate between 2015 and 2016 of all sectors, increasing in GVA by 7.6%. This means it grew at twice the rate of the UK economy as a whole, which grew in GVA by 3.5%.

The creative industries sector encompasses many disciplines, including crafts, design and fashion, creative technology and gaming, publishing, film and TV and advertising. Design and fashion saw an 11% increase in GVA.

Digital provides highest economic value

The sector that provided the most value to the economy in 2016 was digital, making up 6.7% of the UK economy, followed by the creative industries at 5.3%, and tourism at 3.8%.

John Kampfner, CEO at the Creative Industries Federation, says the Federation “welcomes” the “impressive figures” which demonstrate the “innovation and resilience of this sector and its contribution to the wider UK economy.”

He adds that these figures were recorded prior to the EU referendum vote on 23 June 2016, and demonstrate the “importance of protecting our sector from threats such as Brexit and growing skills gaps.”

DCMS’ statistics can be seen in full here.