NEWS: Arts and culture contribute £10.8bn to UK

Arts & Culture Industry Contributes £10.8BN

The economic impact of the UK's arts and culture industry is quantified in a report which highlights the sector's high productivity and effect on employment.

Analysis for Arts Council England by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) estimates that the arts and culture industry made a contribution of £10.8bn Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy in 2016 with an average productivity of workers in the industry measured at £62,000 for the period 2009-2016, compared to the UK-wide norm of £47,600 in the same period.

It is also possible to calculate the GVA figure when the indirect effects from the economic activity of organisations that supply goods and services to the arts and culture industries are added, as well as the induced spend in the wider economy of employees in the culture industries. On this basis, the GVA of the arts and culture industry rises to £23bn.

This implies that for every £1 of GVA generated by the arts and culture industries, an additional £1.14 of GVA is supported in the wider economy.

In terms of employment the authors calculate that the arts and culture industry supported 137,250 UK jobs directly, rising to 363,713 jobs when the benefits of indirect and induced employment were added. This implies that for every 1 job directly supported by these industries, there are an additional 1.65 jobs supported by the indirect and induced multiplier effects.

These industries also paid more than £2.8bn in tax to the Exchequer in 2016.

The report argues that the spillover effects of arts and culture are highly valued, with organisations pointing to the support they provide to local artists and creative clusters, and the role that culture can play in helping to regenerate economically deprived areas and developing skills and talent.

Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair of Arts Council England, said:

"Latest figures show arts and culture is a thriving industry. Public investment in the arts is fuelling local regeneration across the country, pushing skills and talent to the commericial sector, and driving the world class reputation of our creative industries."

Download the full report here.