DCMS Economic Estimates GVA 2023 (provisional)
Source: gov.uk (2025-12-05)

Accredited official statistics used to provide an estimate of the contribution of DCMS Sectors  to the UK economy, measured by GVA (gross value added).

About

These statistics will be revised with the next release which will be published in early 2026. These estimates do not yet incorporate the latest scheduled revisions and rebasing to 2023 prices from the ONS National Accounts Blue Book 2024 (https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/compendium/unitedkingdomnationalaccountsthebluebook/2025). Based on the impact to our early indicator of GVA, DCMS monthly GVA to September 2025 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-september-2025https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-september-2025https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-september-2025https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-september-2025https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-september-2025https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-september-2025https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-september-2025https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-september-2025https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-september-2025https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-september-2025https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-september-2025https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-september-2025https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-september-2025https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-september-2025https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-september-2025https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-september-2025), our less robust but more timely series, and analysis of National Accounts GVA at industry division level (https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/datasets/ukgdpolowlevelaggregates), we expect these revisions will have an effect on annual estimates of DCMS sector GVA too

21 August 2025

This report has been updated to include revised estimates for tourism, and for the DCMS sector total including tourism. The changes reflect revisions made by the ONS to the Tourism Satellite Account estimates (https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/satelliteaccounts/datasets/uktourismsatelliteaccounttsatables) for 2016 to 2019.

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 GDP revisions in Blue Book: 2024 (https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/uksectoraccounts/articles/gdprevisionsinbluebook2020/2024). 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 VisitBritain’s website (https://www.visitbritain.org/research-insights/great-britain-domestic-overnight-trips-archive#gbts-2022-and-2023-archive). 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 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/ad-hoc-statistical-analysis-202425-quarter-3). 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 other DCMS sectors: creative industries (-3.3%), cultural sector (-1.8%) and gambling sector (-4.5%).
- Compared to pre-pandemic (2019), DCMS sector GVA fell by an estimated 7.9%, compared to 2.6% growth for the UK economy as a whole. This drop was driven by tourism, which remained 28.3% lower than 2019 in 2023. However, we do not know how much of this drop is due to the sector being particularly affected by the pandemic, or is due to the changes in methodology to the underlying data. If the tourism sector is excluded, DCMS sector GVA grew by an estimated 0.8% from 2019 to 2023.
- Compared with 2016, DCMS sector GVA fell by an estimated 1.0%, while the UK economy as a whole grew by 8.7%. This fall was driven by the tourism sector, which was particularly affected by the pandemic and decreased by an estimated 20.0% between 2016 and 2023. However, we do not know how much of this drop is due to the sector being particularly affected by the pandemic, or is due to the changes in methodology to the underlying data. If the tourism sector is excluded, DCMS sector GVA grew by an estimated 6.7% from 2016 to 2023.
- Between 2010 and 2023, DCMS sectors (excluding tourism due to data availability) grew at a faster rate than the UK economy as a whole (32.3% compared to 22.3%). This was driven mostly by the creative industries which increased by 35.4% over this time.
This year, we have seen substantial revisions to GVA estimates for DCMS sectors to previously published data to 2022.

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 as tables only, for DCMS sectors excluding the tourism sector, on 19 December 2024. Report and tourism estimates first published on 26 February 2025. Updated estimates for tourism and for DCMS including tourism published on 21 August 2025.

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 xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).

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 Code of Practice for Statistics (https://code.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/) 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 xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx). Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx) or via the OSR website (https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/).

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 xxx@xxx.xx.

Pre-release access

A document is provided that contains a list of ministers and officials who have received privileged early access to this release. In line with best practice, the list has been kept to a minimum and those given access for briefing purposes had a maximum of 24 hours.