The United Kingdom’s creative industries have hit a record high level of productivity as they were worth £76.9bn to the UK economy in 2013 according to official figures published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
This growth as a 9.9% increase on the 2012 figure of £70 billion and shows that the industry itself is growing at three times the rate of the wider UK economy as a whole. The industry as a whole, which includes IT, film and music, accounts for around 1.71 million jobs and this is the first time since the DCMS records began, in 1997, that the growth has topped 5%.
Most of the industries included under this broad banner have seen growth in jobs with architecture, design and IT leading the way. Some areas, however, have stuttered such as publishing, libraries, galleries and museums but growth in areas such as IT seems to have offset this as it accounts for almost have of the economic activity of the sector as a whole being worth around £35.1 billion in 2013.
| Sector | 2011 | 2013 | Change |
| Advertising and marketing | 468,000 | 482,000 | 3.2% |
| Architecture | 121,000 | 136,000 | 12.3% |
| Crafts | 104,000 | 96,000 | -8.5% |
| Design (product, graphic and fashion design) | 151,000 | 177,000 | 17.7% |
| Film, TV, video, radio and photography | 232,000 | 259,000 | 11.8% |
| IT, software and computer services | 709,000 | 825,000 | 16.4% |
| Publishing | 236,000 | 231,000 | -2.1% |
| Museums, galleries and libraries | 113,000 | 110,000 | 2.5% |
| Music, performing and visual arts | 274,000 | 300,000 | 9.2% |
| Total | 2,407,000 | 2,616,000 | 8.7% |
The creative industry groups included in the figures by the DCMS are: Advertising and marketing; architecture; crafts; design; film, TV, video, radio and photography; IT, software and computer services; publishing; museums, galleries and libraries; and music, performing and visual arts and they are expected to see yet another positive year this year.
Big music, publishing and film releases are all confidently expected to bring in further money to the UK in these areas with the Culture Secretary Sajid Javid saying: “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.”
A sentiment that was echoed by Caroline Norbury, chief executive of Creative England who said:
“These figures show unequivocally that the UK’s creative industries are growing faster than any other major industrial sector.”
With Britain leading the way in the creative industries, such cultural exports could also affect wider industries in the country as more and more people have a growing interest in the country and its products.
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