Headline findings

In included DCMS sectors in 2021:

In the digital sector in 2021:

About

These economic estimates are official statistics used to provide an estimate of the contribution of DCMS sectors and the digital sector to the UK economy, measured by imports and exports of goods and services. Trade in tourism is estimated by spending by overseas residents in the UK and spending by UK residents overseas as proxy measurements for exports and imports.

Content

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

DCMS sectors:

• creative industries
• cultural sector
• gambling (services only)
• sport
• tourism (covered on a separate basis to the other sectors)

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

Estimates of civil society imports and exports are not available at present, due to a lack of suitable data.

The release also includes estimates for the audio visual sector. These do not form part of the DCMS total.

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

Digital sector:

• digital sector
• telecoms (services only)

Users should note that there is overlap between these two sectors’ definitions in that the Telecoms sector sits wholly within the digital sector.

Estimates are published here separately for the digital sector (including the telecoms sector) as responsibility for these policy areas now sits with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Released

These statistics were first published on 3 August 2023.

Changes to this page

We have made the following changes to this data since publication:

• On 18 August 2023: section 4.1 of the DCMS sectors economic estimates: Trade, 2021 main report was revised to correct a minor error in the commentary.

• 10 November 2023: due to the identification of an error, the DCMS and digital sector Economic Estimates trade in services data tables were removed and re-published with a reduced breakdown for 2021 while the error was being investigated.

• 14 March 2024: the DCMS trade in services tables have been re-published with breakdowns for 2021, including both sectors and subsectors.

• 24 May 2024: The DCMS and digital sector trade in services tables have been further updated and re-published to include revised 2021 and 2020 data. Alongside, we have

This bulletin provides figures on the composition and scope of the department’s expenditure, information on the impact of defence spending on the wider economy, and compares the MOD’s spending to that of other departments and other countries.

Headline findings

Trade in the included DCMS sector goods in 2023 is estimated as:

• £9.8 billion of goods imports, 1.5% of total UK goods imports (down from 1.8% in 2022 and from 2.3% in 2018).

• £11.6 billion of goods exports, 2.7% of total UK goods exports (down from 3.0% in 2022 and from 4.1% in 2018).

Trade in services by businesses in included DCMS sectors in 2023 is estimated as:

• £40.6 billion of service imports, 13.7% of total UK service imports (up from 13.2% in 2022 and from 8.9% in 2018).

• £63.5 billion of service exports, 13.6% of total UK service exports (up from 13.3% in 2022 and from 12.2% in 2018).

Trade in tourism in 2023 is estimated as:

• £72.4 billion in tourism imports (spend on goods and services by UK visitors overseas)

• £31.1 billion in tourism exports (spend on goods and services by overseas visitors to the UK)

About

These economic estimates are official statistics used to provide an estimate of the contribution of DCMS sectors to the UK economy, measured by imports and exports of goods and services. Trade in goods estimates are defined based on the type of commodity being traded (rather than the business trading the commodity, whereas trade in services estimates are defined based on the industry of the business trading the service (rather than the type of service being traded). Trade in tourism is estimated by spending by overseas residents in the UK and spending by UK residents overseas as proxy measurements for exports and imports.

These estimates are calculated based on the following data sources:

• Trade in goods - HMRC Overseas trade in goods statistics
• Trade in services - ONS International Trade in Services (ITIS) survey
• Trade in tourism - ONS International Passenger Survey (IPS)

Content

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

DCMS sectors:

• creative industries
• cultural sector
• gambling (services only)
• sport
• tourism (covered on a separate basis to the other sectors)

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

Trade estimates are not available for the civil society as there are no formally recognised imports and exports of goods and services for civil society from the data sources available. Figures for gambling sector goods imports and exports are also not included in this release as there are no goods associated with this sector in the data sources available (trade in services for the gambling sector is included).

The data tables in this release also include estimates for the audio visual sector. These are not included in the DCMS sector total.

In addition, the trade in goods data tables include estimates of total imports and exports of goods estimates for the arts and antiques market (these are also not included in the DCMS sector total). We are working on producing a fuller breakdown by partner country. A list of the commodity codes (CN08) used to define the arts and antiques market is available in the data tables. We welcome feedback on the definitions used for these statistics, please contact evidence@dcms.gov.uk with any comments.

A definition for each sector is available in the tables published alongside this release. Further information is available in the associated technical report including details of methods and data limitations.

Released

These statistics were first published on 26 June 2025.

Feedback

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

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