Skip to content
>> Home > Research by Themes > Diversity and Inclusion > Getting in and getting on: Class, participation and job quality in the UK’s Creative Industries

Getting in and getting on: Class, participation and job quality in the UK’s Creative Industries

Aerial shot of shipping contrainers

Worldwide exports of creative goods exceeded 500 billion USD in 2015, with a 150% increase since 2002. In the UK, the creative industries have become an increasingly international sector in terms of the intensity of incoming and outgoing flows. As of 2017, exports of creative goods and services accounted for nearly 45% and imports accounted for 26% of the Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK by the creative industries. This means that the UK’s creative industries make a strong positive net contribution to the UK’s balance of payments.

Ahead of upcoming trade negotiations between the UK and the US, understanding the forces behind these numbers is important. In this report, we draw on official data from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)and data supplied by other international sources to present facts about the international trade position of the UK’s creative industries. In doing so, we identify issues that need further empirical work.

In the report we assess the international trade and performance of the UK’s creative industries by focusing on 12 key facts:

  1. The fast rise in creative industries trade is driven by the expansion of trade in services.
  2. The rise in creative services trade is seen across sub-sectors.
  3. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) related sector is the most important in the creative industries  in terms of the volume of exports.
  4. Sub-sectors with relatively fewer firms are also the ones with a greater share of international firms.
  5. The EU is the largest trading partner for UK creative goods and services, followed by North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) countries and then Asia.
  6. The UK’s creative industries enjoy a large trade surplus in services and a moderate deficit in goods with the EU/European Economic Area (EEA)/Switzerland and a trade surplus with the rest of the world.
  7. The main trade partner varies by sub-sector.
  8. Trade-intensive creative industries are characterised by strong intra-industry trade. 
  9. 90% of the value of exports from the creative industries is created domestically.
  10. Domestic and international talent and skills are both important for the creative industries.
  11. Average (heads-based) labour productivity greatly varies across creative industries sub-sectors, party reflecting differences in human capital.
  12. Creative services trade are subject to various degrees of regulation across the world. The restrictiveness of these regulations varies greatly across sub-sector and geography. 

Please reference this paper as:

Di Novo, S; Fazio, G and Vermeulen, W. (2020) 12 facts about the UK’s international trade in creative goods and services. Various: Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre and Newcastle University. Available from: https://www.pec.ac.uk/research-reports/12-facts-about-the-uks-international-trade-in-creative-goods-and-services


Published 27th March 2020

Photo by chuttersnap

This research report is published by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC). All PEC research reports have been peer reviewed prior to publication. In keeping with normal academic practice, responsibility for the views expressed in this research, and the interpretation of any evidence presented, lies with the authors. These views and interpretations do not necessarily represent those of the PEC or its partner organisations. 


Related Research Reports

Baltic Art Gallery courtesy of Lorna Simpson
Measuring the economic value of cultural and heritage sites

A major contribution of new guidance, evidence and research on the economic value of culture and her…

religious artwork
AI and the Creative Industries: The art in the artificial

AI and the creative industries Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the goal of developing machines with …

image of urban industrial building with signage on exterior - courtesy of Alyssa Bossom
Creative radar: Mapping the UK’s creative industries

Major urban centres are the sorts of places we would expect to find creative businesses clustered to…

skyline of town - courtesy of Benjamin Elliott
Geographies of Creativity

A Creative PEC State of the Nations report Place matters when it comes to creativity. Where do creat…

image of woman in cafe looking at tablet screen
Streaming culture

Looking back at the rise of streaming Over the past decade, digital technologies have brought huge c…

abstract artwork
Creativity and the future of skills

At a time when all jobs, whether in a coffee shop or a bank, can seemingly be described as creative,…

image of fashion photo shoot with model and crew
The creative digital skills revolution

A common finding in studies on the future of work is that employers will increasingly dema…

image of person drawing on paper - courtesy of Retha Ferguson
For love or money

Graduate motivations and the economic returns of creative higher education inside and outside the cr…

film crew filming in busy street
Improving young people’s access and progression in work in film, TV and games

Download the executive summary Young people can face significant barriers to achieving their full po…

abstract artwork
The migrant and skills needs of creative businesses in the UK

Download the Appendices This report details the results of a survey of employers commissioned b…

Aerial shot of shipping contrainers
12 facts about the UK’s international trade in creative goods and services

Worldwide exports of creative goods exceeded 500 billion USD in 2015, with a 150% increase since 200…

actors on stage behind a red theatre curtain
Charities speak

Using data science to understand the arts and cultural charities sector in England and Wales Chariti…

Authors

Sign up to our newsletter