DCMS and digital sector economic estimates: Trade, 2021
Source: gov.uk (2025-04-09)

Official statistics estimating the contribution of DCMS sectors and the digital sector to the UK economy, measured by imports and exports of services and goods.

This data has been revised since publication. Please see DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates: Trade 2022 and 2023 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-sectors-economic-estimates-trade-2022-and-2023) for the latest estimates from 2016 to 2023.

Headline findings

In included DCMS sectors in 2021:

Goods: Exports were greater than imports, unlike the UK economy as a whole. Compared to 2019 (pre-pandemic), trade in goods accounted for a lower proportion of total UK trade in goods.

Services: Exports were greater than imports, like the UK economy as a whole. Compared to 2019 (pre-pandemic), trade in services accounted for a higher proportion of total UK trade in services.

The creative industries sector contributed the most to the value of goods and services imported and exported.

Tourism: UK residents spent more overseas (imports) than overseas visitors spent in the UK (exports).

In the digital sector in 2021:

Goods: Exports were lower than imports, like the UK economy as a whole. Compared to 2019 (pre-pandemic), trade in goods accounted for a lower proportion of total UK trade in goods.

Services: Exports were greater than imports, like the UK economy as a whole. Compared to 2019 (pre-pandemic), trade in services accounted for a higher proportion of total UK trade in services.

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 published a time series from 2016 with updated DCMS totals (to separate the digital sector following the Machinery of Government change).

27 June 2024: The DCMS sectors Economic Estimates Trade 2021 main report has been revised after an error was identified with the sport sector net balance in Figure 7.

9 April 2025: The DCMS Sector Economic Estimates trade in goods tables and report have been revised to correct a small number of errors. The Creative Industries sector totals for the years 2017 to 2021 have been corrected after it was identified that a small number of commodity codes were missing from the calculation. These are small changes which do not affect any headline trends. Additionally, some small revisions have been made to 2020 estimates in Tables 3a and 3b. All other figures for the DCMS sectors and sub-sectors remain unchanged. Digital sector trade in goods estimates are not affected by these changes.

29 July 2025: Trade estimates for 2016 have been corrected and re-published in the DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates: Trade 2022 and 2023 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-sectors-economic-estimates-trade-2022-and-2023) release.

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

The UK Statistics Authority

This release is published in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics (2018) (https://code.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/) produced by the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA). The UKSA has the overall objective of promoting and safeguarding the production and publication of official statistics that serve the public good. It monitors and reports on all official statistics, and promotes good practice in this area.

Pre-release access

The accompanying pre-release access document lists 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.

Contact

Responsible analysts: Eri Hutchinson and Zoe Kimber

For any queries or feedback, please contact xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).