Maria Miller at London Olympics - P 2012
Rosie Hallam/Getty ImagesLONDON – The creative industries, including film, TV, music and others, are worth $117.4 billion (£71.4 billion) annually to the U.K. economy, according to a report from Britain’s National Office of Statistics.
That accounted for 5.2 percent of its overall value, it found.
The creative industries, which also include publishing, advertising, the performing arts, architecture, design and other fields, saw their contribution rise 9.4 percent in 2012, outperforming all other industry sectors in Britain, according to the report.
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Compared to a similar study in 2008, the creative industries’ value is up 15.6 percent. That compares with an increase of 5.4 percent for the U.K. economy as a whole. Back in 2008, they accounted for 2.89 percent of gross value added to the economy.
The creative industries generated $13.1 million (£8 million) in revenue per hour for the economy and accounted for 1.68 million jobs in 2012, or 5.6 percent of all U.K. jobs. Employment in the industries increased 8.6 percent between 2011 and 2012, while Britain as a whole saw a gain of only 0.7 percent.
“These incredible statistics are confirmation that the creative industries consistently punch well above their weight, outperforming all the other main industry sectors, and are a powerhouse within the U.K. economy,” said Maria Miller, secretary of state for culture, media and sport. “We are committed to ensuring that the energy, innovation, skills and talent existing in this dynamic sector continue to translate into economic success and provide a remarkable platform from which we can showcase Britain to the world.”
The statistics didn’t break out film and TV contributions separately, but they showed that the broader category of “film, TV, video, radio and photography” saw its contribution decline in 2012 from $16.4 billion (£9.98 billion) to $16.0 billion (£9.75 million). That was up from $14.5 billion (£8.8 billion) in 2008.
The latest data makes film, TV, video, radio and photography the third-largest creative sector behind advertising/marketing, which has an estimated value of $16.8 billion, and IT, software and computer services ($50.8 billion).
Email: Georg.Szalai@THR.com
Twitter: @georgszalai
