UK creative industries jobs grow to 2.42m

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UK government figures estimate there were about 2,419,000 filled jobs in the UK creative industries during 2023.

The number is 318,000 higher than in the pre-COVID year of 2019. This is equivalent to a 15.1 per cent increase between 2023 and 2019, giving the creative industries the highest longer-term growth rate of the areas of the creative and cultural economy that fall within the remit of the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS).

Between January and December 2023, the UK creative industries added 23,000 net new jobs, an increase of 0.9 per cent over 2022.

Across the other areas estimated by the DCMS, civil society organisations added 39,000 roles (+4.2 per cent) during 2023, sports increased by 18,000 (+3.3 per cent) and gambling jobs rose by 8,000 (+10.6 per cent). Cultural organisations lost an estimated 28,000 roles (-4.1 per cent).

The update on employment in the DCMS categories is based on the 2023 data provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey (APS), and includes a breakdown of the workforce in different DCMS categories by gender, ethnicity, and disability.

It estimates that within the creative industries workforce, 83.6 per cent of jobs are filled by people from the white ethnic group, 37.9 per cent are filled by women, and 14.7 per cent by disabled people.

In April, the Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre (PEC) published its own research on audiences and the workforce in the creative industries, as part of its State of the Nations series.

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