Press release

Creative Industries now worth £8.8 million an hour to UK economy

New figures published today reveal that the UK’s Creative Industries are now worth £76.9 billion per year to the UK economy.

From:
Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
Published
13 January 2015
This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government
  • Growth of almost ten per cent in 2013, three times that of wider UK economy
  • Accounted for 1.7 million jobs in 2013, 5.6 per cent of UK jobs
  • 2015 set to be another bumper year for UK creative output

New figures published today reveal that the UK’s Creative Industries, which includes the film, television and music industries, are now worth £76.9 billion per year to the UK economy. This massive contribution is an all-time high and equates to £8.8m per hour, or £146,000 every single minute, playing a key role in the Government’s long-term economic plan.

The latest statistics come as 2015 looks set to be another bumper year for UK creative talent. There is already a huge number of highly anticipated offerings from every sector of the UK’s creative community; be it the latest Bond film, Spectre, the next instalment of Game Of Thrones, the eagerly awaited conclusion to the Arkham videogame trilogy Batman: Arkham Knight or the publication of the first illustrated editions of the Harry Potter series of novels.

As well as entertaining us, the Creative Industries drive growth, investment and tourism, which is why supporting the sector is a key part of the Government’s long-term economic plan. The tax reliefs in place continue to be a powerful tool in attracting foreign investment, and last year’s publication of the CreateUK strategy set out how Government and industry will work together to ensure the continued success of this dynamic sector.

Key findings from the statistics released include:

  • Gross Value Added (GVA) for 2012-13 increased by 9.9 per cent - more than three times that of the UK economy as a whole, and higher than any other industry.

  • GVA of the Creative Industries was £76.9bn in 2013 and accounted for 5.0 per cent of the UK Economy. For the fourth year running, the Creative Industries proportion of total UK GVA was higher than the year before, and is now at a record high.

  • The Creative Industries accounted for 1.71m jobs in 2013, 5.6 per cent of total UK jobs; and a 1.4 per cent increase on 2012.

  • The value of services exported by the Creative Industries was £17.3bn in 2012, 8.8 per cent of total UK service exports.

  • Between 2011 and 2012 the value of service exports from the Creative Industries increased by 11.3 per cent. This compares with an increase of 2.8 per cent for total UK service exports.

Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said:

“The UK’s Creative Industries are recognised as world leaders around the globe and today’s figures show that they continue to grow from strength to strength. They are one of our most powerful tools in driving growth, outperforming all other sectors of industry and their contribution to the UK economy is evident to all.

“Government is determined to continue its support for this most dynamic of sectors as part of our long-term economic plan. The tax reliefs we’ve got in place and are extending to Children’s TV and orchestras have been instrumental in attracting inward investment, and are part of broad package of measures designed to ensure the continued success of the Creative Industries.”

Nicola Mendelsohn, industry co-chair of the Creative Industries Council (CIC) and Vice President for EMEA at Facebook said:

“These latest figures highlight the great successes of the UK’s Creative Industries with many developments, initiatives and international awards.

“The Creative Industries Council launched CreateUK last year - the first ever industry-led strategy to ensure growth and secure further jobs in the UK and internationally. It will also play an important role in exporting UK creativity to the rest of the world and encouraging inward investment here.

“2015 is set to be an exciting year with so many highlights to come. We’re well placed to continue to secure the UK’s place as a leading global hub for the Creative Industries for the decades to come.”

Expected highlights of 2015 include:

Film

  • Avengers: The Age of Ultron (Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Studios) – sequel to 2012’s blockbuster Marvel’s The Avengers
  • Pan (Warner Bros.) – telling the origins of Peter Pan and Captain Hook, it’s due for release in July 2015
  • Spectre (Sony Pictures Entertainment / MGM / EON) – the next installment of the 007 franchise
  • Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Lucasfilm / Walt Disney Studios) – the first film in the planned third Star Wars trilogy
  • Mission Impossible 5 (Paramount) – Tom Cruise reprises his role as IMF Agent Ethan Hunt in the next chapter of the Mission Impossible saga.

TV

  • Humans – The eight-part series is set in an alternative present, where robotic servants known as “synths” are a must-have accessory (Kudos)
  • The Casual Vacancy – The adaptation of J.K Rowling’s novel of the same name, starring Michael Gambon, Keeley Hawes, Rory Kinnear, Monica Dolan, Julia McKenzie (HBO/BBC)
  • Game of Thrones 5 – The fifth series in the global phenomenon reaches UK screens in April (HBO)
  • The Royals – Drama about a fictional British Royal family set in modern day London (Lionsgate TV)
  • Downton Abbey 6 – The trials and tribulations of the Grantham’s continue (Carnival Film & TV)

Video Games

  • Batman Arkham Knight – The Epic Conclusion to the Arkham Trilogy (Rocksteady Studio)
  • No Man’s Sky – A procedurally generated open universe game. Players take the role of a planetary explorer with a spacecraft (Hello Games)
  • Tearaway Unfolded – A re-telling of 2013’s hugely successful Tearaway story (Media Molecule)
  • Fable Legends – The eagerly awaited fifth installment in the Fable series of video games. (Lionhead Studios)
  • Total War: Attila – The ninth standalone game in the popular Total War series of video games, (The Creative Assembly)

Albums

UK artists expected to release albums in 2015 include:

  • Ellie Goulding – The follow up album to 2010’s Lights and 2012’s Halcyon
  • Coldplay – A Head Full of Dreams, the band’s seventh studio album
  • Mark Ronson – Uptown Special is Ronson’s fourth studio album and will be released on 19 January 2015 in the UK
  • Emeli Sande – The second studio album from the Ivor Novello award winning artist is expected later this year
  • Rita Ora – Due out later this year, Rita Ora’s second album is expected to feature production from Diplo and DJ Mustard, as well as a collaboration with Prince

Books:

  • Robert Harris: Dictator – The long-awaited concluding part of the Cicero Trilogy that began with Imperium (Hutchinson/Penguin Random House)
  • Mary Beard: SPQR – A history of Ancient Rome – The world’s foremost classicist on the most successful empire in history (Profile Books)
  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – The first of the illustrated editions of J.K.Rowling’s masterpiece to be published with artwork by Jim Kay (Bloomsbury)
  • Anthony Horowitz: New (as yet untitled) James Bond novel (Orion / Hachette)
  • Lynda La Plante: Tennison – a return to the Prime Suspect series (Simon & Schuster)

Further Information

Notes to editors

  1. The statistics can be downloaded here

  2. Flickr: infographics

Video: #CreateUK

Creative Industries Groups are as follows:

  • Advertising and marketing
  • Architecture
  • Crafts
  • Design: Product, Graphic and Fashion Design
  • Film, TV, video, radio and photography
  • IT, software and computer services
  • Publishing
  • Museums, Galleries and Libraries
  • Music, performing and visual arts

Latest industry figures can be found at: www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk

Updates to this page

Published 13 January 2015