Architecture: Facts and Figures

Economic Impact

• The architecture sector produced about £4bn of Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2023, according to official Government figures.
• Between 2019 and 2023, UK architecture's GVA increased by 10.3 per cent.
• Exports of architectural services were valued at £778m in 2021, according to the DCMS statisics.

Source: DCMS Economic Estimates, February 2024; DCMS Economic Estimates, August 2023

Revenues & Employment in Architecture (2024 RIBA Survey)

• Estimated staff employed in UK architectural practices: 41,000
  
• Total revenues: £4.0bn
• A third of revenues in these practices comes from housing, with UK architects working across a range of project types, including the health, education and commercial sectors
• Projects worked on in the last 12 months: 172,000
• Revenue from outside the UK:  £934m

Source: RIBA Business Benchmarking Survey 2024

Architecture education Statistics

• In 2022/3, there were 19,000 students in the UK‚ RIBA Schools of Architecture
• In 2022/23, 4,500 new entrants started RIBA Validated Part 1 architecture courses, an increase of 3 per cent on previous years
• 57 per cent of Part 1 new entrants were female students, an increase of 5 per cent on five years ago

Source: RIBA Education Statistics

Other Statistics

• London 2012, the largest redevelopment project in Europe, was delivered on budget and on time. (Source: Construction 2025 Government Strategy document). UK firms were also involved in the next two Olympic Games (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020).
• There are 375,000 listed buildings in the UK, one for every 170 members of the population. (Source: The Farrell Review into Architecture and the Built Environment).
• The UK is a world centre of architectural education with nearly 50 schools and 10 in London alone. (Source: Architects Journal).
• The UK and Japan tie (with three each) for the most winners of the international Pritzker Prize for Architecture over the last 25 years. The UK's Zaha Hadid was the first female winner in 2004. (Source: http://www.pritzkerprize.com/).
• There are more people employed in UK architecture jobs than dentists, or librarians/museum staff. (Sources: DCMS Estimates, General Dental Council).