Headline findings

• Provisionally, the Digital Sector GVA decreased by an estimated 1.6% between 2022 and 2023, while accounting for inflation. Total UK GVA is estimated to have increased by 0.4% over the same period.
• Provisionally, inflation-adjusted estimated growth for the Digital Sector GVA between 2019 and 2023 was 13.7%.
• Revised, inflation-adjusted, estimated growth for the Digital Sector GVA between 2019 and 2022 was 15.6%. This is 6.5 percentage points higher than the 9.1% growth reported previously in provisional estimates. This update brings Digital Sector GVA figures more in line with National Accounts data.
• The Digital Sector is provisionally estimated to have accounted for 6.5% of total UK GVA in 2023 at £153.5 billion in current prices, decreasing from an estimated 6.8% of total UK GVA in 2022.
• From 2022 to 2023, notable changes to Digital subsector GVA include a 6.7% decrease in the largest Digital subsector ‘Computer programming, consultancy and related activities’ and an 8.6% increase in the second largest Digital subsector ‘Telecommunications’.

About this release

This Annual GVA series is our most accurate estimate of Digital Sector GVA. These Economic Estimates are Accredited Official Statistics used to provide an estimate of the contribution of the Digital Sector and its associated subsectors to the UK, measured by GVA (gross value added).

This is the first release of provisional annual estimates for 2023, and Blue Book 2024 inclusive revisions to 2019 to 2022 annual estimates. The provisional Annual GVA estimates for 2023 for the Digital Sector will be revised in our next release, upon updates to underlying ABS data, and further revised in the following statistical release to include Blue Book 2025 revisions. Our next release is planned to include a full analytical report providing additional analysis on our produced GVA estimates.

This release includes a methodology update to the deflators used to remove the effects of inflation in our chained volume measure estimates. A summary of the revisions to 2019 to 2022 estimates as part of this release can be found in the accompanying revisions report.

This is a continuation of the Digital Sector Economic Estimates: Annual GVA release series, previously produced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Responsibility for Digital and Telecommunications policy now sits with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

Data sources and technical information

Findings in this release are calculated based on the published Office for National Statistics (ONS) https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/supplyandusetables/datasets/supplyanduseofproductsandindustrygvaukexperimental">Supply and Use Tables, ONS https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/datasets/ukgdpolowlevelaggregates">Gross Domestic Product (GDP) low-level aggregates and the ONS https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/businessservices/methodologies/annualbusinesssurveyabs">Annual Business Survey (ABS).

The Supply and Use Tables (SUT) report balanced GVA at the 2-digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code level up to 2022. SUT GVA is consistent with UK</a

Headline findings

All estimates in this release are presented in 2022 prices and in chained volume measures. Estimates are provisional and subject to planned revisions. The index of estimated monthly GVA shows the growth or decline of each sector or subsector relative to January 2019. Estimates of monthly GVA (£ million) are used to determine percentage change over the relevant time periods mentioned here.

The Digital Sector

• Estimated monthly GVA for the Digital Sector increased by 0.2% for the three months from December 2023 to March 2024, while the GVA of the UK is estimated to have increased by 1.0% over the same period.
• Estimated monthly Digital Sector GVA decreased by 1.5% in the 12 months between March 2023 and March 2024 whilst, over the same period, the estimate for the UK increased by 0.8%.
• Based on these estimates, the Digital Sector accounted for 7.2% of total UK GVA in March 2024, down from 7.4% in March 2023.
• Digital sector GVA is estimated to be approximately £161 billion for the 2023 calendar year.

The Telecommunications Sector

Telecommunications is a subsector of the Digital Sector. Due to specific interest in this sector, we have provided additional headline figures:

• Estimated monthly GVA for the Telecommunications Sector decreased by 0.1% in the 3 months from December 2023 to March 2024.
• Estimated monthly GVA for the Telecommunications Sector decreased by 2.3% in the 12 months from March 2023 to March 2024.
• Based on these estimates, the Telecommunications Sector accounted for 1.57% of total UK GVA in March 2024, down from 1.62% in March 2023.

Released

13 June 2024

About this release

This is a continuation of the Digital Economic Estimates: Monthly GVA series, previously produced by Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Responsibility for Digital and Telecommunications policy now sits with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

Monthly estimates

These estimates are Official Statistics, used to provide an estimate of the economic contribution of the Digital Sector, in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA), for the period January 2019 to March 2024. This current release contains new figures for January 2024 to March 2024.

Estimates are in chained volume measures (i.e. have been adjusted for inflation), at 2022 prices, and are seasonally adjusted. These latest monthly estimates should only be used to illustrate general trends, not used as definitive figures.

You can use these estimates to:

• Look at relative indicative changes in GVA over time for the Digital Sector and subsectors

You should not use these estimates to:

• Quantify GVA for a specific month
• Measure absolute change in GVA over time
• Determine findings for sectors that are defined using more detailed industrial classes (due to the data sources only being available at broader industry levels)

Data sources and technical information

These findings are calculated based on published Office for National Statistics (ONS) data sources including the Index of Services and Index of Production.

These data sources are available for industrial ‘divisions’, whereas the Digital Sector is defined using more detailed industrial ‘classes’. This represents a significant limitation to this statistical series; the implications of which users should be aware of.

ONS data used in this release only captures trends (i.e. changes over time) for ‘divisions’; with trends for ‘classes’ estimated from their overarching division. Therefore, differing changes in class levels within a division cannot be captured within these estimates. This presents an issue when creating our statistical series as classes wi

These estimates do not yet incorporate the latest scheduled GVA revisions and rebasing to 2022 prices from the ONS National Accounts Blue Book 2024. This year we saw substantial revisions to our Annual GVA estimates for DCMS sectors, including current price estimates and growth rates over time. We expect these revisions will impact our DCMS sector Regional GVA estimates too, particularly in terms of current price estimates and growth rates over time by region. Estimates of the proportion of DCMS sector GVA in each region, may also be affected by ONS revisions but we will not know if this is the case, or the extent of any changes, until revised regional GVA data is available.

Our DCMS sector regional GVA estimates use data from the ONS Regional GVA balanced tables and the next release of this data is https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/regionaleconomicactivitybygrossdomesticproductuk1998to2023">provisionally announced for April 2025. We will use this data to produce and publish updated DCMS sector Regional GVA estimates up to 2023 in May/June, including revisions to data for earlier years. In the meantime, we advise users to apply caution when using DCMS sector Regional GVA data and recommend focusing on regional proportions, rather than current price estimates or growth rates by region. $CTA

Headline findings

• Our annual GVA 2022 statistics estimated that GVA from creative industries, culture, gambling and sport was £148.7 billion, making up 6.8% of UK GVA in 2022. This publication shows how that GVA is distributed by region.
• London and the South East combined generated the majority of included DCMS sector GVA in 2022. Included DCMS sector GVA fell in most regions between 2019 and 2020, during the pandemic, but increased in 2021 and 2022.

About

These Economic Estimates are Official Statistics used to provide an estimate of the contribution of DCMS Sectors to each region in the UK, measured by GVA (gross value added). This is the first release of regional estimates for 2021, and provisional regional estimates for 2022.

Content

These statistics cover the contributions of the following sectors to the UK economy:

• Creative Industries
• Cultural Sector
• Gambling
• Sport

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

Estimates of Tourism and Civil Society GVA are not available at present, due to a lack of suitable data.

Released

These statistics were first published on 27 June 2024.

Feedback

DCMS aims to continuously improve the quality of estimates and better meet user needs. Feedback should be sent to DCMS via email at evidence@dcms.gov.uk.

The UK Statistics Authority

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) in June 2019. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the https://code.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/">Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled accredited official statistics. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

Our statistical practice is regulated by the OSR. OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards by emailing evidence@dcms.gov.uk. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

The responsible analyst for this release is Rachel Moyce. For further details about the estimates, or to be added to a distribution list for future updates, please email us at evidence@dcms.gov.uk.

<h3 id="

This release is intended to be used for assessing regional trends and differences. For total national GVA, including changes over time, please see the previous DCMS and digital sector GVA 2022 (provisional) publication.

Headline findings

• We report that Digital Sector GVA grew in almost all ITL1 regions between 2019 and 2022, with growth rates for Digital Sector GVA higher than their respective regional growth rates for GVA across all industries, when accounting for inflation.
• The largest increases in Digital Sector GVA between 2019 and 2022 were observed in the North East (37.2%) and the South West of England (36.4%). The only decrease in Digital Sector GVA between 2019 and 2022 was in Northern Ireland (-3.4%), in contrast to the growth in Northern Ireland GVA for all industries (1.6%) over the same period.
• In 2022, London (38.5%) and the South East of England (20.4%) were the ITL1 regions contributing the most to the UK total Digital Sector GVA, contributing over half of the UK total Digital Sector GVA. Northern Ireland (1.2%) and Wales (1.8%) contributed the least to UK Digital Sector GVA in 2022. This is a continuation of a long-term trend, with regional contributions to UK total Digital Sector GVA being broadly consistent between 2010 and 2022.
• In 2022, London and the South East were the only two ITL1 regions that had a higher share of UK total Digital Sector GVA than their respective share of UK total GVA across all industries.
• In 2022, the Digital Sector contributed approximately 7.2% of total UK GVA. In comparison, the Digital Sector contributed 11.9% of total GVA in London and 9.7% of total GVA in the South East of England. These regions saw the highest two proportions of Digital Sector GVA to their total regional GVA. In all other ITL1 regions, Digital Sector GVA contributed between 3.7% and 5.5% of total regional GVA.

About this release

This is a continuation of the Digital Sector Economic Estimates: Regional GVA release series, previously produced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Responsibility for Digital and Telecommunications policy now sits with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

These Economic Estimates are Accredited Official Statistics used to provide an estimate of the contribution of the Digital Sector to each region in the UK, measured by GVA (gross value added). This is the first release of regional estimates for 2021 and 2022.

Data sources and technical information

These findings are calculated based on both the published Office for National Statistics (ONS) Regional Gross Value Added balanced tables and the ONS Annual Business Survey (ABS).

The Regional GVA balanced tables produced by the Regional Accounts team at ONS report GVA at the 2-digit Standard In

About

These Economic Estimates are accredited official statistics used to provide an estimate of the contribution of DCMS sectors to the UK economy, measured by GVA (gross value added). This release includes annual estimates for 2010 to 2022, and provisional annual estimates for 2023.

This year, we have seen substantial revisions to GVA estimates for DCMS sectors to previously published data to 2022. This is due to revisions made by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to the underlying data which these estimates are based on. GVA estimates are subject to scheduled revisions as more and higher quality data becomes available, and more information about this is available in the ONS article on https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/uksectoraccounts/articles/gdprevisionsinbluebook2020/2024">GDP revisions in Blue Book: 2024. Further information of the impact of these revisions on DCMS sector GVA is available in the technical report above.

This is a tables-only update to our Annual GVA publication, brought forward following the impact of scheduled ONS revisions in the National Accounts Blue Book 2024 on GVA estimates for DCMS sectors. A more complete release will follow in early 2025.

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

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

The release also includes estimates for the audio visual sector and computer games subsector.

Tourism data is not available in this release due to data lags. We will be publishing updated estimates for tourism in a more complete Annual GVA release in early 2025. Previous estimates for tourism are available in the DCMS Annual GVA 2022 release

We have separately published ad hoc statistics for the art and antiques market. Annual GVA estimates for the art and antiques market have been published here alongside economic estimates on employment and trade.

Headline findings:

Provisional 2023 estimates show that:

• GVA in included DCMS sectors was estimated to be £167.4 billion, contributing 7.1% to UK GVA.
• GVA in the included DCMS sectors fell by 2.1% compared to 2022, while the UK as a whole grew slightly by 0.3%.
• The fall in the included DCMS sector GVA from 2022 to 2023 was seen across creative industries (-3.3%), cultural sector (-1.8%) and gambling sector (-4.5%). There was growth from 2022 to 2023 in the sport sector (+2.2%) and in civil society (+2.3%).
• Compared to pre-pandemic (2019), included DCMS sector GVA grew by 0.8%, slower than 2.6% for the UK economy as a whole.
• Since 2010, included DCMS sector GVA grew by 32.3%, faster than 22.3% for the UK economy as a whole.

Following the revisions made by ONS to the underlying data, the 2022 data shows that:

• Included DCMS sectors contributed 7.3% to UK GVA in 2022.
• GVA in the included DCMS sectors grew 3.0% between 2019 and 2022, slightly faster than 2.3% for the UK economy as a whole.
• Included DCMS sector GVA grew by 35.1% between 2010 and 2022, faster than 21.9% for the UK economy as a whole.

Further information about these revisions, including how the latest 2022 figures compare to the estimates before the revisions, is available in the technical report above.

Released

First published on 19 December 2024.

Feedback and consultation

DCMS aims to continuously improve the quality of estimates and better meet user needs. Feedback and responses should be sent to DCMS via email at evidence@dcms.gov.uk.

Office for Statistics Regulation

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) in June 2019. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the <a rel="external" href="https://code.stat

These estimates are the first to include scheduled revisions from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) National Accounts Blue Book 2024. National Accounts Gross Value Added (GVA) estimates incorporate scheduled revisions as more data becomes available. These revisions have affected monthly GVA data back to the start of our series (2019) for many industries in DCMS sectors.

We expect revisions to GVA in the National Accounts Blue Book 2024 to affect our annual GVA estimates too. Annual GVA is more robust than this monthly data, but the annual data currently available does not incorporate these revisions. To address this, we are bringing forward a tables-only update to our Annual GVA publication to 19 December 2024. A more complete release will follow in January 2025.

Alongside these quarterly releases, we often sum monthly GVA to produce or update estimates for each calendar year. All of the data required to calculate these estimates is available in the published tables. At the time of publication, Blue Book revisions have not yet been applied to our more robust, annual GVA measure. We have not presented summed monthly data here this quarter to reduce the risk of confusion.

Headline findings

All level estimates in this release are presented in 2022 prices.

DCMS sectors (excluding tourism)

In September 2024, these early estimates indicate that GVA by DCMS sectors fell by around 1.0% compared to August 2024, while GVA by the UK as a whole fell by 0.1%.

Looking at the quarter as a whole, in the three months to September 2024, GVA by the included DCMS sectors is estimated to have grown slightly by 0.2% compared with the three months to June 2024, while the UK economy as a whole is estimated to have grown slightly by 0.1%.

Since February 2020 (pre-pandemic), these early estimates indicate that included DCMS sector GVA has grown at a slightly slower rate than the UK as a whole at a 2% increase compared to 3% for the UK economy, though trends vary by sector.

Released

27 November 2024

About this release

The DCMS Sector total reported here includes civil society, creative industries, cultural sector, gambling and sport. Tourism is not included as the data is not yet available (see note in data table).

Monthly estimates

These Economic Estimates are Official Statistics, used to provide an estimate of the economic contribution of DCMS sectors, in terms of gross value added (GVA), for the period January 2019 to September 2024. This current release contains first estimates for July to September 2024.

Estimates are in chained volume measures (i.e. have been adjusted for inflation), at 2022 prices, and are seasonally adjusted. These latest monthly estimates should only be used to illustrate general trends, not used as definitive figures.

You can use these estimates to:

• look at relative indicative changes in GVA over time for DCMS sectors and subsectors

You should not use these estimates to:

• quantify GVA for a specific month
• measure absolute change in GVA over time
• determine findings for sectors that are defined using more detailed industrial classes (due to the data sources only being available at broader industry levels)

Data sources and technical information

The estimates are calculated based on published ONS data sources including the Index of Services and Index of Production.

These data sources provide an estimate of the monthly change in GVA for all UK industries. However, the data is only available for broader industry groups, whereas DCMS sectors are defined at a more detailed industrial level. For example, GVA for ‘cultural education’ (a sub-sector of the cultural sector within the DCMS sectors) is estimated based on the trend for all education. Sectors such as ‘cultural education’ may have been affected differently by COVID-19 compared to education in general. These estimates are also based on the composition of the economy in 2022. Overall, this means the accuracy of monthly GVA for DCMS sectors is likely to be lower for months in 2020 and 2021.

The technical guidance contains further information about data sources, methodology, and the validation and accuracy of these estimates. The latest version of this guidance was published in November 2023.

Content

These statistics cover the contributions of the following sectors to the UK economy.

DCMS Sectors:

• civil society
• creative industries
• cultural sector
• gambling
• sport

Users should note that there is ove

About

These Economic Estimates are accredited official statistics used to provide an estimate of the contribution of DCMS sectors to the UK economy, measured by GVA (gross value added). This release includes annual estimates for 2010 to 2022, and provisional annual estimates for 2023.

This year, we have seen substantial revisions to GVA estimates for DCMS sectors to previously published data to 2022. This is due to revisions made by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to the underlying data which these estimates are based on. GVA estimates are subject to scheduled revisions as more and higher quality data becomes available, and more information about this is available in the ONS article on https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/uksectoraccounts/articles/gdprevisionsinbluebook2020/2024">GDP revisions in Blue Book: 2024. Further information of the impact of these revisions on DCMS sector GVA is available in the technical report above.

This is the full release and report of our Annual GVA publication, updating the tables-only release published on 19 December 2024 that was brought forward following the impact of scheduled ONS revisions in the National Accounts Blue Book 2024 on GVA estimates for DCMS sectors. This release includes new estimates for tourism and DCMS overall, and a report on the latest estimates.

There are limitations when comparing tourism GVA estimates over time. Although the TSA revisions have improved the comparability of data in some cases, there are still limitations when comparing tourism GVA estimates over time. In particular there is a break in the TSA time series in 2022, meaning that estimates from 2022 onwards are not directly comparable with earlier years. This is due to changes in methodology to VisitEngland’s Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) which is a critical data source for estimating domestic tourism expenditure and, therefore, tourism direct GVA in the ONS TSA, the underlying data source for these estimates. The GBTS survey methodology changed in 2020, however full years of data were not collected in 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic, and the TSA for these years uses alternative data sources and new modelling techniques. VisitEngland’s Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) is currently labelled as official statistics in development. Further information is available on https://www.visitbritain.org/research-insights/great-britain-domestic-overnight-trips-archive#gbts-2022-and-2023-archive">VisitBritain’s website. As a result, we advise caution when comparing data for tourism and DCMS sectors overall (including tourism) for 2022 and 2023 with earlier years. It is not possible to separate out the impact of changes in methodology to the underlying VisitEngland data and therefore we do not know how much the trends we are seeing are driven by these methodological changes. Further information is available in the report and in the technical report.

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

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

The release also includes estimates for the audio visual sector and computer games subsector.

We have separately published ad hoc statistics for the art and antiques market. Annual GVA estimates for the art and antiques market have been published here alongside economic estimates on employment and trade.

Headline findings:

Provisional 2023 estimates show that:

• GVA in DCMS sectors was estimated to be £220.3 billion, contributing 9.3% to UK GVA.
• GVA in the DCMS sectors increased by an estimated 0.1% compared to 2022, while the UK as a whole grew by 0.3%.
• The slight growth in DCMS sector GVA from 2022 to 2023 was driven by the tourism sector (+8.5%); there was also growth from 2022 to 2023 in the sport sector (+2.2%) and in civil society (+2.3%). There was a drop in GVA from 2022 to 2023 in the ot