Figures from the Department of Culture, Media & Sport indicate that employment and exports have increased dramatically since 2009 in the UK’s creative industries.

Services exported in 2013 were totalled at £17.9bn, a rise of 3.5% (£598m) on the previous year while a 34.2% rise was reported (around £4.5bn) between 2009 and 2013, surpassing the rest of the UK economy by close to 15%.

Employment increased by 5.5% between 2013 & 2014 (2.6m to 2.8m jobs), with the national average being 2.1%, which is a 15.8% increase since 2011.
 

 

Culture secretary John Whittingdale said of the report: “These latest figures demonstrate how the UK’s creative industries continue to be one of our great success stories.

“It’s a fantastic sector which now accounts for more than 1.8 million jobs in the UK, and employment in this area is increasing at twice the rate of the wider economy.

“Our films, music and other artists are celebrated around the world and this Government is determined to do what we can to ensure our creative industries continue to grow.”

The number of people identifying as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) employed within the sector has also increased with more than one in 10 positions filled by someone from a BAME background, putting the creative industries on par with the rest of the UK industries.

However, women were identified as being under-represented in the sector, with 36.7% of jobs filled by women compared to the national average of 47.2%.