Headline Findings

In the 2021 calendar year, there were approximately 4,270,000 filled jobs in DCMS Sectors (excluding Tourism), 12.9% of the UK total, and a 3.1% increase compared to the preceding 12 months.

Growth in total DCMS sector filled jobs was primarily driven by the Creative Industries and Digital sectors, which increased by 113,000 (5.1%) and 108,000 (6.3%) filled jobs respectively. This was partially offset by decreases in the Civil Society and Sport sectors (4,000, 0.5% and 5,000, 0.9% respectively).

Although there is wide variation between sectors in terms of demographic breakdowns, overall the proportion of filled jobs held by women was lower in the DCMS Sectors (excluding Tourism) (44.5%) than the UK overall (48.1%). DCMS Sectors (excluding Tourism) have a similar share of jobs filled by people from ethnic minority groups (excluding white minorities) or by people with disabilities compared to the UK workforce overall.

According to earnings estimates in the 2021 calendar year, within the DCMS Sectors (excluding Tourism) median hourly gross pay was greater than the UK overall, at £15.68 compared to £13.51. Of the individual sectors, only Gambling and Sport had lower pay than the UK average, while the Creative Industries and Digital sector had the highest median pay.

Within the DCMS Sectors (excluding Tourism), the difference in pay between men and women is estimated to exceed the UK overall (DCMS 23.9%, UK 15.1%), while the disability pay gap was similar (14.7%, 14.6%) and there was great variation in pay by ethnic group.

About this release

The employment (number of filled jobs) estimates series is a National Statistic under the Code of Practice for Statistics. It is calculated based on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey (APS).

The earnings estimates series is an Experimental Statistic. It is also calculated based on the ONS Annual Population Survey (APS) and was first published in the DCMS Sector National Economics: 2011 to 2020 to provide estimates of earnings with different demographic breakdowns. For headline estimates of earnings, DCMS also publishes estimates using the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), which are seen as more robust for that purpose.

Additionally, DCMS has published estimates of the Civil Society sector, broken down by Local Authority. This uses pooled data spanning the period 2018 to 2021 to boost sample sizes. It was developed as an “ad hoc” release based on user request and can be found in our ad hoc statistical release page.

Creative Occupations

In 2020, the ONS conducted a review of the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes to update and revise the classification of occupations to reflect changes within the economy since the previous ‘refresh’, around 2010. As the Creative Industries is defined using the occupation codes which have been determined as creative, DCMS has updated the list of creative occupations based on the