Creative Industries: £8.8m Per Hour

The Gen always brings the big numbers, with the latest stats published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) revealing that the creative industries are now worth £76.9 billion each year to the economy, equating to £8.8m per hour.

Between 2012-2013, the Gross Added Value (GVA, stick with us here) of the collective industries increased by 9.9%- higher than any other industry and three times the amount of the economy as a whole.

The creative industries represent 5% of the economy and 1.71m jobs. You can see the definition and a breakdown of jobs here, noting that the definition also includes IT, film, TV, advertising, video games, design and architecture alongside music and the visual arts.

BPI and BRIT Awards Chief Executive Geoff Taylor was available for comment and said: “These figures show that the UK’s creative industries don’t just provide entertainment and culture for the nation. Record labels alone employ thousands of people across the country who support new and established musicians whilst contributing to the economy and helping the UK emerge from its financial deficit”.

Taylor continued: “Our musicians’ talent and our labels’ investment and expertise made 2014 a record-breaking year for British music. For the first time in Official Charts history, the top ten best-selling artist albums of the year came from UK artists. Very few countries can boast of such success”.

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Sajid Javid added: “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”.

If your thirst for figures is not yet satisfied you can always download the entire stats here.