About

The employment estimates provide an estimate of the contribution of DCMS sectors to the UK economy, measured by number of filled jobs. These estimates are calculated based on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey (APS). They have been independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) and are accredited official statistics.

The APS earnings estimates are used to provide detailed demographic information about earnings in the DCMS sectors. These estimates are official statistics that have not yet been reviewed and accredited by the OSR but are produced in line with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics. For headline estimates of earnings, DCMS also publishes estimates using the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), which are more robust and DCMS’s preferred source for headline earnings estimates.

Content

DCMS Sectors

These statistics cover the contributions of the following DCMS sectors to the UK economy;

• Civil Society

• Creative Industries

• Cultural Sector

• Gambling

• Sport

Tourism is not included as the data for this time period is not yet available. The release also includes estimates for the Audio Visual sector and Computer Games subsector.

Users should note that there is overlap between DCMS sector definitions. In particular, several cultural sector industries are simultaneously creative industries.

A definition for each sector is available in the tables published alongside this release. Further information on all these sectors is available in the associated technical report along with details of methods and data limitations.

Headline findings:

As of the 2023 calendar year, there were a total of 4.0 million filled jobs in the included DCMS sectors, representing 11.8% of total filled jobs. This is an increase of 403,000 filled jobs compared to 2019 (up 11.2%), and 81,000 filled jobs compared to 2022 (up 2.1%). For context, in the UK economy as a whole, filled jobs have increased by 1.4% since 2019 and 0.8% since 2022.

As of 2023, in percentage terms, the gap in median hourly pay between men and women was larger than the UK workforce overall. The median hourly pay for women was 19.5% lower than for men in included DCMS sectors overall, compared to a difference of 15.5% for the UK economy as a whole. However, the median hourly pay for disabled people was 12.4% lower than for non-disabled people in included DCMS sectors overall, compared to a difference of 13.4% for the UK economy as a whole.

Released

First published on 13 June 2024.

Pre-release access

A document is provided that contains a list of ministers and officials who have received privileged early access to this release. In line with best practice, the list has been kept to a minimum and those given access for briefing purposes had a maximum of 24 hours.

The UK Statistics Authority

This release is published in accordance with the https://code.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/the-code/">Code of Practice for Statistics, as produced by the UK Statistics Authority. The Authority has the overal

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

About

These Economic Estimates are used to provide an estimate of the contribution of DCMS Sectors, and separately the Digital Sector, to the UK economy, measured by employment (number of filled jobs). These estimates are calculated based on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey (APS).

Content

DCMS Sectors

These statistics cover the contributions of the following DCMS sectors to the UK economy;

• Civil Society
• Creative Industries
• Cultural Sector
• Gambling
• Sport

Tourism is not included as the data is not yet available. The release also includes estimates for the Audio Visual sector and Computer Games subsector.

Users should note that there is overlap between DCMS sector definitions. In particular, several Cultural Sector industries are simultaneously Creative Industries.

A definition for each sector is available in the tables published alongside this release. Further information on all these sectors is available in the associated technical report along with details of methods and data limitations.

Headline findings:

In the 2022 calendar year, there were approximately 3.9 million filled jobs in the DCMS Sectors (excluding Tourism), an increase of 322,000 (8.9%) since 2019 and 85,000 (2.2%) since 2021.

Since pre-pandemic (2019), driving the growth in included DCMS sector employment was the Creative Industries (14.1% increase). Over this period, employment also grew in the Civil Society sector (4.9% increase) and Cultural Sector (2.7% increase), however remained below 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels in the Sports sector (3.8% decrease) and Gambling sector (0.5% decrease).

Although there is wide variation between sectors in terms of demographic breakdowns, overall the proportion of filled jobs held by women, and the proportion of jobs held by disabled people, was lower in the included DCMS Sectors than the UK overall. As of the 2022 calendar year, within the included DCMS Sectors there were 45.3% (vs 48.1% UK workforce overall) of filled jobs held by women and 15.8% (vs 16.4% UK workforce overall) held by disabled people.

Digital Sector:

These statistics also cover the contributions of the following Digital sectors to the UK economy

• Digital Sector
• Of which: Telecoms

Users should note that the Telecoms sector sits wholly within the Digital Sector.

A definition for each sector is available in the tables published alongside this release. Further information on all these sectors is available in the associated technical report along with details of methods and data limitations.

Headline findings:

In the 2022 calendar year, there were approximately 1.9 million filled jobs in the Digital Sector, an increase of 325,000 (20.9%) since 2019 and 73,000 (4.1%) since 2021.

Compared to the UK workforce overall, the Digital Sector has a lesser share of filled jobs held by women or people with a disability. As of 2022, within the Digital Sector there were 29.3% (vs 48.1% UK workforce overall) of filled jobs held by women and 12.5% (vs 16.4% UK workforce overall) held by disabled people.

Released

First published on 13 July 2023.

Pre-release access

A document is provided that contains a list of ministers and officials who have received privileged early access to this release. In line with best practice, the list has been kept to a minimum and those given access for briefing purposes had a maximum of 24 hours.

The UK Statistics Authority

This release is published in accordance with the <a rel="external" href="https://code.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/