‘Arts worth £5.9bn to UK economy’ – report in The Stage 7th May

Arts Council England has published the findings of an independent report claiming that the arts and culture sector accounts for 0.4% of gross domestic product, with £5.9 billion worth of gross value added to the UK economy in 2011.

See the full news story at The Stage's website - http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2013/05/arts-worth-5-9bn-to-uk-economy-report/

The results form part of an investigation by the Centre for Economics and Business Research that ACE says is the “first comprehensive analysis to determine the value of art and culture to the modern economy at a national scale”.

CEBR’s report defines arts and culture as including book publishing, sound recording and music publishing, performing arts, support activities to the performing arts, artistic creation and operation of arts facilities.

The report found that these areas combined provide 0.45% of total employment in the UK – on average 110,600 full-time equivalent employees. The performing arts were the biggest contributor to employment with around a third of this total.

Meanwhile, the report also reveals that the sector’s contribution to the UK economy has actually increased since the recession began in 2008, despite turnover in the sector falling slightly in the period.

The full report is available to download from www.artscouncil.org.uk

The report’s key findings:

•Arts and culture make up 0.4% of GDP – a significant return on the less than 0.1% of government spending invested in the sector
•Arts and culture is a sector of significant scale with a turnover of £12.4 billion and a GVA of £5.9 billion in 2011
•The sector’s peak turnover was in 2008 at £12.8 billion, before falling by around £1 billion in 2009 and recovering to £12.4 billion by 2011
•Arts and culture generate more per pound invested than the health, wholesale and retail, and professional and business services sectors
•The arts and culture sector provides 0.45% of total UK employment and 0.48% of total employment in England
•At least £856 million per annum of spending by tourists visiting the UK can be attributed directly to arts and culture
•The economic contribution of the arts and cultural sector has grown since 2008 despite the UK economy as a whole remaining below its output level before the global financial crisis
•The arts and culture industry pays nearly 5% above the UK media salary of £26,095
•Being located in an area with the twice the average level of cultural density could increase house prices by an average of £26,817

For more information visit http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2013/05/arts-worth-5-9bn-to-uk-economy-report/