By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage and assist in our marketing efforts. More info
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage and assist in our marketing efforts. More info
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Creative industry jobs account for 7 per cent of the UK workforce (Image: by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash)
There were 2.4m filled jobs in the UK creative industries in 2022 – a 14.1 per cent rise since 2019 which is well ahead of the average 0.6 per cent increase across all UK jobs. The figures were compiled as part of the Economic Estimates published for the industries covered by the UK government's Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS).
Despite the negative impact of COVID and other factors on employment in the music and performing arts, fashion and crafts, overall job creation in the creative industries was more than 20 times faster than the UK average across the whole three-year period.
Fig 1: Change in employment within the creative industries and the UK overall, 2019 to 2022 (Image: gov.uk)
However, since 2021, creative industries employment has risen by a smaller 2.4 per cent, compared to the UK average of 1.5 per cent.
As of 2022, the Creative Industries made up 7.1 per cent of total UK filled jobs, a slight increase from 7 per cent in 2021, and an increase from 6.3 per cent in the equivalent period pre-pandemic of 2019.
This reflects the mixed fortunes of different creative sub-sectors in creating and retaining jobs.
For example, the IT, software and computer services sub-sector is the largest creative industries sub-sector. It makes up approximately 1million (43.2 per cent) of the sectors’ filled jobs. This marks an increase from 775,000 (36.9 per cent ) in 2019 (pre-pandemic), and reflects strong employment growth over the period.
From 2019 to 2022, in percentage terms, employment in the IT, software and computer services sub-sector increased by 33.5 per cent, the largest increase of any creative sub-sector.
However, several other creative areas have either experience at least one year of decline (see table below).
Table 2: Changes in Filled jobs (nearest thousand) in the Creative Industries. (Image: gov.uk)
This update on the DCMS workforce is based on the 2022 data provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey (APS). For this purpose, estimates cover employment (number of filled jobs) in the included DCMS Sectors for the 2022 calendar year (January to December).
Estimates for employment in the Digital Sector (including Telecoms) are no longer part of DCMS totals. Estimates will be published separately. This follows the creation of the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the change to the DCMS remit.
