Official Statistics

DCMS Economic Estimates: Productivity – Technical and quality assurance report

Published 20 March 2025

This document covers the following topics:

1. an overview of the content covered in the statistical release ‘DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates: Productivity 2023 (provisional)’ 
2. an overview of DCMS sectors, how they are defined, and limitations of these definitions
3. the methodology underlying the statistical release, including data sources 
4. the processes used to check that the estimates have been produced correctly
5. further information, including contact details for DCMS statisticians.  

1. Overview of release

The statistics release ‘DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates: Productivity 2023 (provisional)’ reports on labour productivity for DCMS sectors measured as output per hour. Labour productivity is defined as output generated by each unit of labour input. These estimates use Gross Value Added (GVA) as the output, with number of hours worked as the inputs. These estimates do not include productivity measured as output per job, since suitable data is not currently available. We will review this in future, based on both data availability and user needs.

The estimates in the publication are designed to be consistent with national (UK) estimates, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), where possible.

1.1 Official statistics in development

These statistics are labelled as official statistics in development. Official statistics in development are official statistics that are undergoing development and will be tested with users, in line with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics. These productivity estimates are designed to complement our other economic estimates and to give a deeper understanding of the economic performance of DCMS sectors to the UK economy. They are being published as official statistics in development because:

• they use an updated methodology for output per hour.
• the methodology is still in development, including exploring the possibility of producing estimates for civil society and tourism
• we will be seeking user feedback on the usefulness of the statistics, the suitability of the methodology used and how clearly the statistics are communicated, including explanations about quality.

We expect to make further methodological improvements and implement changes after seeking user feedback. These changes will be made by the next annual productivity release, expected in 2025/2026. At this point we will make an assessment about whether the statistics still remain in development or if the label can be removed. 

We welcome feedback on these statistics. We particularly welcome views on:

• the methodology and data sources used
• the presentation of these measures and explanations about the quality of the data
• suggestions for how these statistics could be further improved
• how you are using the estimates 

Please contact evidence@dcms.gov.uk by 23rd May 2025 with any feedback.

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards by emailing evidence@dcms.gov.uk. 

Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website. 

1.2 Users 

The users of these statistics fall into five broad categories:  

• Ministers and other political figures  
• Policy and other professionals in DCMS and other Government departments  
• Industries and their representative bodies  
• Charitable organisations  
• Academics

The primary use of these statistics is to monitor the performance of the industries in the DCMS sectors, helping to understand how current and future policy interventions can be most effective.

2. Sector definitions

2.1 Overview of DCMS Sectors

2.1.1 Main sector definitions

The sectors for which DCMS has responsibility are:

• civil society
• creative industries  
• cultural sector  
• gambling  
• sport  
• tourism 

However, DCMS sectors productivity estimates do not include civil society as our definitions for civil society jobs, hours worked and GVA are incompatible. They also do not include tourism due to a lack of suitable data. Work is ongoing to explore the feasibility of developing estimates. 

In order to measure the size of the economy it is important to be able to define it. DCMS uses a range of definitions based on internal or UK agreed definitions. All definitions are based on the Standard Industrial Classification 2007 (SIC) codes. This means nationally consistent sources of data can be used and enables international comparisons. 

The development of individual sector definitions in isolation as new sectors have fallen within the department’s remit has meant that there is overlap between DCMS sectors. For example, the cultural sector is defined using SIC codes that are nearly all within the creative industries.

Figure 1 below visually shows the overlap between DCMS sectors in terms of SIC codes. Users should note that this does not give an indication of the magnitude of the value of overlap. For this, users should consult the main report. A list of SIC codes appearing in each sector and subsector can be found in the tables accompanying the release. 

Figure 1: Overlap of SIC codes within DCMS Sectors

2.2 Details and limitations of sector definitions

This section looks at sector definitions in more detail, and provides an overview of limitations.

There are substantial limitations to the underlying classifications. As the balance and make-up of the economy changes, the SIC, finalised in 2007, is less able to provide the detail for important elements of the UK economy related to DCMS sectors, and therefore best fit SIC codes have been used to produce these estimates. The following section describes limitations for specific DCMS sector definitions. 

2.2.1 Creative industries

The creative industries were defined in the Government’s 2001 creative industries Mapping Document as “those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property”.

The definition used for the creative industries in this release does not allow consideration of the value added of “creative” to the wider economy, such as Creative Occupations outside the creative industries. DCMS policy responsibility is for creative industries across the economy and therefore this is a significant weakness in the current approach.

2.2.2 Cultural sector

There are significant limitations to the DCMS measurement of the cultural sector arising from the lack of detailed disaggregation possible using the standard industrial classifications. There are many cases where Culture forms a small part of an industry classification and therefore cannot be separately identified and assigned as culture using standard data sources. DCMS consulted on the definition of Culture and published a response in April 2017.

It is recognised that, due to the limitations associated with SIC codes, the SIC code used in past publications as a proxy for the Heritage sector (91.03 - Operation of historical sites and building and similar visitor attractions) is likely to be an underestimate of this sector’s value. We have changed the name of the Heritage sector to ‘Operation for historical sites and similar visitor attractions’ to reflect this.

2.2.3 Sport

For the purpose of this publication, the statistical definition of sport has been used based on the Vilnius definition. This incorporates only those 4-digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes which are predominantly sport (see the definitions in Table 1a in the published data tables).

DCMS has previously published GVA estimates based on the broad Vilnius definition as part of the DCMS sport Satellite Account. This is a more wide-ranging measure of sport which considers the contribution of sport across a range of industries, for example sport advertising, and sport-related construction. However, this method has not been used in these estimates.

3. Methodology

This chapter summarises the methodology used to produce productivity estimates.

3.1 Output per hour

This first section presents the methodology for estimates of output per hour. This is the preferred measure of productivity as it accounts for different working patterns.

3.1.1 Data sources

The following data sources were used in the production of output per hour for DCMS sectors:  

• DCMS Economic Estimates: Gross Value Added 2023 (provisional) (published 26 February 2025)
• Annual Population Survey microdata (latest aggregated data published 12 March 2025)
• ONS productivity hours series (industry division level published 18 February 2025)

3.1.2 Method (output per hour)

DCMS provisional estimates of GVA in 2023 and estimates of GVA in 2019 to 2022 from the same publication are used as the output variable for this measure, giving consistency across DCMS Economic Estimates. Current price (CP) estimates are used to give a series of level estimates for each year in that year’s prices. Chained Volume Measures (CVM) are used to calculate changes between years, as they account for inflation.

The input for this calculation is the number of hours worked. This is estimated using data from the Annual Population Survey (APS). The survey records actual hours worked by respondents and self-reported SIC code for both first and second jobs. The data is weighted and aggregated to 4-digit and 2-digit SIC code level and used to calculate the ratio of hours in each 4-digit SIC code to the 2-digit SIC it falls within.

The ONS produces a productivity hours series at industry division (2-digit SIC code) level. The ratios calculated above are applied to this series to produce 4-digit SIC level estimates which are then aggregated to sector and subsector totals. This step has been added to the methodology for this publication to constrain the hours to those used in the ONS productivity series, bringing DCMS estimates more in line with national estimates.

Output per hour is then calculated as GVA divided by hours worked for each sector and subsector. This is done with the CP GVA and the CVM GVA to produce in-year and inflation adjusted estimates. 

3.3 Excluded DCMS Sectors

3.3.1 Exclusion of Tourism 

Suitable data is not currently available for the tourism sector, so these estimates exclude tourism. The ONS industry division series of productivity hours does not include estimates for all of the necessary SIC codes, and if these are reinstated in future publications, we will explore producing output per hour estimates for tourism.

3.3.2 Exclusion of civil society

Civil society has not been included in this release as the input and output data are not consistent. Civil Society GVA is calculated using SIC codes in the Non-Profit Institutions Serving Households (NPISH) data, whereas civil society filled job estimates are based on whether the employing organisation is a charity, voluntary organisation or trust, and not on a SIC code basis. Work is continuing to explore the feasibility of developing a measure for productivity in the civil society sector.

3.4 Summary of data sources

In summary, the data presented in this report on productivity

• are based on Official Statistics data sources
• are based on internationally-harmonised codes
• have been calculated to follow the ONS methodology as closely as possible
• are based on survey data and, as with all data from surveys, there will be an associated error margin surrounding these estimates

This means the estimates are:

• comparable at both a national and international level. 

However, this also means the estimates are subject to limitations of the underlying classifications of the make-up of the UK economy. For example, the standard industrial classification (SIC) codes were developed in 2007 and have not been revised since. Emerging sectors, such as Artificial Intelligence, are therefore hard to capture and may be excluded or mis-coded.  

3.5 Strengths and limitations 

Strengths of these estimates

• These estimates have been calculated to follow the ONS methodology as closely as possible, to aid comparability to UK national estimates.
• The output measure used is the GVA published in the DCMS sector annual GVA publication, giving consistency across DCMS Economic Estimates.
• Annual Population Survey data allows us to estimate actual hours worked, rather than usual or contracted hours. 
• For this publication, an additional step has been added to constrain total hours to the ONS hours worked measure, which uses additional sources of data. This enables us to use proportions of actual hours worked while keeping comparability to ONS data.

Limitations of these estimates

• Several DCMS sectors’ outputs are not well represented by GVA alone (particularly in the cultural sector, for example, museums and libraries). This is because these sectors’ goods and services are often provided free at the point of consumption. Also, GVA cannot capture wider cultural and societal benefits associated with these sectors (which may also include indirect effects on UK GVA). Hence, these productivity measures cannot fully account for output in these sectors. DCMS’s Cultural and Heritage Capital Programme sets out an ambition for a culture and heritage capital account that goes beyond transactions with market prices.
• The underlying data for these estimates includes the Annual Population Survey estimates of hours worked, and of proportions of jobs in each 4-digit SIC code. While this enables us to estimate actual hours worked at a 4-digit SIC level, responses are self-reported, and SIC codes may therefore be less accurate.  Due to ongoing challenges with response rates, response levels and weighting, the accreditation of ONS statistics based on the APS was temporarily suspended on 9 October 2024 and are considered official statistics in development until further review. As a result of the falling sample sizes, estimates based on the APS are likely to have increased volatility and uncertainty.  
• The ONS productivity jobs series uses the Labour Force Survey, which has experienced falling response rates. ONS have therefore paused publication of industry level estimates of output per job. These will resume after they have analysed the impact of Labour Force Survey (LFS) reweighting. Since this publication uses the industry level estimates, we have been unable to update our estimates of output per job. We will review this in future, based on both data availability and user needs.
• Output per hour estimates also make use of LFS data, and the ONS output per hour productivity estimates are therefore currently labelled as official statistics in development.

3.6 Changes in this release

In this release we have:

• Updated the  output per hour worked methodology to constrain the number of hours worked to ONS industry division productivity hours. These estimates should not be directly compared to the previously published ones, as the methodology has since changed and the data used to produce the older estimates has since been substantially revised.
• Not produced estimates of output per job as some data required to calculate this measure is not available. See Section 3.6 for more information.

4. Quality assurance processes

This chapter summarises the quality assurance processes applied during the production of the DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates: Productivity 2023 (provisional) statistics. This includes a detailed account of the quality assurance processes and the data checks carried out by our data providers (Office for National Statistics, ONS) as well as by DCMS. 

4.1 Quality Assurance Processes at ONS

Quality assurance at ONS takes place at a number of stages. The various processes in place to ensure quality for the data sources used in the productivity publication are outlined below. It is worth noting that information presented here on the data sources are taken from various ONS technical reports and should be credited to colleagues at the ONS. Quality information on ONS measures of labour productivity overall are available in the Labour Productivity QMI report.

4.1.2 Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Annual Population Survey (APS)

The Annual Population Survey (APS) is a continuous household survey, covering the UK. The topics covered include employment and unemployment, as well as housing, ethnicity, religion, health and education.

The purpose of the APS is to provide information on important social and socio-economic variables at local levels. The published statistics enable monitoring of estimates between censuses for a range of policy purposes and provide local area information for labour market estimates. The APS is not a stand-alone survey, but uses data combined from two waves of the main Labour Force Survey (LFS) with data collected on a local sample boost.

Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates are subject to revisions generated by mid-year population estimates and every 10 years they are revised to census totals.

More details can be found in the ONS quality report.

4.1.3 DCMS Economic Estimates GVA 2023

For details of the methodology, data sources and quality assurance processes in the production of DCMS sector GVA estimates, please refer to the technical document.

4.3 Quality Assurance Processes at DCMS

The majority of quality assurance of the data underpinning the DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates: Productivity release takes place at ONS, through the processes described above. However, further quality assurance checks are carried out within DCMS. Information about DCMS quality assurance of the DCMS sector GVA estimates is available in the corresponding technical report.

Production of the report is typically carried out by one member of staff, whilst quality assurance is completed by at least one other, to ensure an independent evaluation of the work.

4.3.1 Data requirements and data delivery

For the APS data, DCMS discussed our data requirements with ONS and these are formalised as a Data Access Agreement (DAA). The DAA covers which data are required, the purpose of the data, and the conditions under which ONS provide the data. Discussions of requirements and purpose with ONS improved the understanding of the data at DCMS, helping us to ensure we receive the correct data and use it appropriately. 

DCMS checks that the data delivered by ONS match what is listed in the Data Access Agreement (DAA). For this particular release we check that: 

• We have received all data at the 4 digit SIC code level, which is required for us to aggregate up to produce estimates for our sectors and sub-sectors. 
• Data at the 4 digit SIC code has not been rounded unexpectedly. This would cause rounding errors when aggregating up to produce estimates for our sectors and subsectors.

4.3.2 Data Analysis quality assurance checks

At the analysis stage, data are aggregated to produce information about DCMS sectors and sub-sectors. The productivity statistics lead checks whether:

• there is any missing data
• the correct SIC codes have been aggregated together to form DCMS sector and sub-sector estimates

A statistics colleague not involved in the coding and analysis checks whether:

• any new code or changes to code used in the calculations (in this case using the statistical software r) makes sense and produces the expected results
• the correct input data is used (matching published data, incorporating any revisions, latest available data)
• further calculations and analysis are correct.

4.3.3 Publication quality assurance checks 

Finalised figures are disseminated within Excel tables and a written report published on GOV.UK. These are produced by the productivity statistics lead. Before publishing, a quality assurer checks the data tables as well as the report to ensure minimal errors. This is checked against a QA log where comments can be fed back and actioned accordingly. The quality assurer also makes sure any statements made about the figures (e.g. regarding trends) are correct according to the analysis and checks for spelling or grammatical errors.

Proofreading and publication checks are done at the final stage, including: 

• checking the figures in the publication match the published tables
• checking the footnote numbering is correct
• making sure hyperlinks work
• checking chart/table numbers are in the correct order
• ensuring the publication is signed off by DCMS Head of Profession for Statistics 
• contacting press office to ensure they are aware of the release date
• checking the published GOV.UK page again after publishing

4.4.4 Post publication

Once the publication is released, DCMS reviews the processes and procedures followed via a wash up meeting. This occurs usually a week after the publication release date and discusses:

• What went well and what issues were encountered
• What improvements can be made for next time
• Engaging with users of the publication to get feedback

5. External Data Sources

It is recognised that there are always different ways to define sectors, but their relevance depends on what they are needed for. Government generally favours classification systems which are 

• rigorously measured, 
• internationally comparable, 
• nationally consistent, and 
• ideally applicable to specific policy interventions. 

These are the main reasons for DCMS constructing sector classifications from Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes. However, DCMS accepts that there are limitations with this approach and alternative definitions can be useful where a policy-relevant grouping of businesses crosses existing Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes.

6. Further information

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

For enquiries on this release, please email evidence@dcms.gov.uk.

For general enquiries contact: 

Department for Culture, Media and sport
100 Parliament Street London
SW1A 2BQ

Telephone: 020 7211 6000 

DCMS statisticians can be followed on X via @DCMSInsight.